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HENDRYX 




Brass, Bronze, Steel and Japanned Bird and 
Animal Cages; Silver, Brass, Nickel Plaied and 
Rubber Flsblng Reels; Brass, Bronze, Steel and 
Iron Jack and Safety Cbaln; Gold, Gilt and 
Tinned "Wire Picture Cord and Cage Specialties. 
THE ANDREW B. HENDRYX CO.. 
New Haven, Conn., U. S. A. 



CATALOGUE 
FREE. 






OLDEN'S 



NEW 




I 



OOK ON MRDS 



C. F. *"& G. H. HOLDEN. 



0^ " ^iltle bcbbrops of rclcstiul mclobj)." — Carlyle. 






165TH THOUSAND. 




m 7 1892 



GEORGE H. HOLDEN, PUBLISHER, 

9 BowDOiN Square, Boston, Mass.; 

240 Sixth Avenue, New York, N. Y.; 
[oo Lake Street, near Dearborn Street, Chicago, III. 

1892. 



'3F4fei 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1892, 

By G. H. HOLDEN, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 




PREFACE. 



The new work herewith presented has been writ- 
ten to meet the demand of the multitude of bird- 
lovers for a more extensive and exact knowledge of 
the care of our beautiful pets, the birds. All that 
was valuable in my previous writings has,, been re- 
tained. Of the 128 pages, 90 are new ; and the work 
is embellished with 32 illustrations of birds and 28 
of cages and cage-fixtures ; and, for the benefit of 
those living at a distance, a price-list of both birds 
and cages is annexed. 

Thanks for valuable information and assistance 
are due to Miss Mary Helen Boodey of Laconia, 
N.H., Mr. W. W. Caldwell, Mr. George B. Pear- 
son, my brother Mr. George H. Holden, and many 
others. 

The book in its new form, I hope, will retain all of 
its former friends, and that thousands of new ones 
may be added, C. F. H. 

January, 1875. 

3 




PREFACE 

TO THE REVISED EDITION. 



It was impossible, when the previous edition was 
published, to completely revise it, owing to the haste 
necessary to get the work in press to supply the de- 
mand for it. To the great body of our patrons and 
readers, we need only state that the two new articles 
on the gray and green parrots, so long desired and 
needed, are presented in this edition. The editor 
hopes they will prove as beneficial to the public as 
the other chapters of the work. 

G. H. H 

January, 1876. 





CONTENTS. 





PAGE. 




PAGE. 


Preface .... 


3 


Egg-bound 


. 26 


Contents .... 


5 


Egg Paste .... 


12 


Advice to Purchasers 


ii6 


Eggs, Birds eat them 


. 28 


Adams' Express 


III 


Epilepsy . . . 


14 


Ants' Eggs 


85 


Express, Safety of 


no 


Asthma .... 


13 






Appetite, Loss of 


'9 


Feathers off Head . 


. 18 


AiistraHan Paroquet . 


77 


Female Canary will mate wit 


h . 25 


For treatment, see Parrot 


66 


Finches for Aviary . 


• 99 






Avadavat 


. 102 


Best Singers 


i(S 


Bishop Finch . 


. 106 


Bird Cages 


119 


Chestnut .... 


. 103 


" Lice .... 


10 


Cordon Blue Finch 


. 104 


" Lime .... 


121 


Cut-throat Finch . 


. 105 


Birds are hatched 

" bathe whilst mated . 


27 
20 


Diamond Sparrow P'inch 
Fire Finch 


. 106 
. 106 


" brought up by hand . 


29 


Gray Blue 


. 102 


'• bristle up . . . . 


'4 


Indian Silver-bill Finch 


. 103 


*' desert their Young . 


29 


Magpie Finch 
Nun Finch 


. 103 


" Limbs broken . 


16 


. 104 


" will not bathe . 


20 


Orange Cheek 


. 103 


Blackbird .... 


59 


Quaker Finch . 


. 103 


Black-Gap 


50 


Saffron Finch . _ . 


. 106 


Bobolink . . 


92 


Spotted-sided Finch 
St. Helena Finch . 


. 106 


Brazilian Cardinal 


81 


. 105 
. 105 


Breeding Cages . 


23 


Wax-bill .... 


Bulfinch .... 


43 


Zebra .... 


. 103 






Food for Birds . . . 


. 28 


Canary .... 


9 






Cage, one suitable 
Cause of Disease 


118 
12 


Goldftnch .... 


. 32 


Chaffinch .... 


40 


" Diseases . 


• 34 


Claws require cutting 
Cleansing Brass Cages , 
Colds 


18 

122 

12 


" Mules 
Gravel Paper, Singer's 
Grosbeak, Rose-breast 


. 34 
. 120 

. 89 


Costiveness 


'4 






Crowley, David . 


III 


Handsome Birds, how raisec 


. 26 


Cures, for all Birds . 


21 


Hartz Mountains 


22 


Cuttle-fish .... 


19 


Hatching Birds . 


. 27 






Hard Breathing . 


• 13 


Diarrhoea .... 


13 


Holden's Bird Cures . 


21 


Diseases, Remedy for 


21 


How to mate Birds 


• 25 



6 


CONTENTS. 




PAGE. 


P 


Insect Powder . . . . 


19 


Parrot Cage .... 


Insects for Soft-bill Birds . 


82 


" Stand . . 
Patience in Training 


Java Sparrow . . . . 


82 


Postage on Seed 
Poor Luck with Birds 


Lark, Sky . . 


53 




" Wood . 


55 


Raising Birds .... 


Ladies' Dress . 




Remedial Agents 


Linnet, Gray . 


37 


Robin, Engli-.h 


" Red . . . 


93 


" Japanese 


" Mules . . . 


38 


Rupture ..... 


Lice on Birds . 


19 




Loss of Voice . 


13 


Saffron ..... 


. 




Scales on Limbs 


Males and Females, how raised 


25 


Sexual Desire .... 


Mating Birds . 


25 


Selecting Birds 


" Fever . 


24 


Seed for Birds .... 


Meal-Worms, how bred . 


86 


" Sicily Canary . 


Mocking-Bird . 


84 


" German Rape . 


Food . 


85 


" Hemp .... 


Lice . 


87 


" Millet . . .. 


Moult, A Young Bird should 


30 


" Maw, or Poppy 


" when a Bird should 


16 


" Paddy . . . . 


" My Bird is Sick" . 


12 


" Cracked Corn . 

" Cracked Wheat • . 


Nightingale 


46 


Siskin ..... 


Nonpareil .... 


95 


Singer's Gravel Paper 
" Smothering " Birds 


Poems 




Sneezing ..... 


Beautiful Birds 


31 


Song most admired . 


Birds of Killingworth . 


42 


Sore Feet 


Black-Cap . 


50 


Sparrow, Java .... 


Blackbird . . . 


59 


Starling ..... 


Canary .... 


10 


Sweating . . . . . 


Chorus of Heaven 


35 


Swollen and Sore Limbs . 


Goldfinch 


32 




(jray Parrot . 


66 


Talking Minor 


Linnet .... 


31 


Taming Birds 


Nightingale . 


46 


Teaching Birds 


Old-World Sparrow 


64 


Temperature for Birds 


Robin Redbreast . 


61 


Tobacco Smoke 


.Song of Birds 

Tune his Merry Note . 


7 
52 


Trapping Birds 

Training Birds .... 


Thrush .... 


57 


Trap Cage . . . 
Troopial, South .American 


Parrot, Gray . 


66 


Thrush, Song . . . . 


" Mexican 


72 




" Carthagena . 

" Single Yellow He.id 


73 
73 


Virginia Nightingale 


" Amazon 

" Blue P'ront . 


74 
74 


Wood-Lark . . . . 


" Maracaibo . 


74 


Wrapping up Bu•d^ . 


" Cuban . 


74 




" Food . 


7^ 


Yellow-Birds . . . . 


" Training . . 6 


7, 6S, 69 


Yellow Gall . . . . 


" Diseases . . 7 


4. 75. 76 


Young Birds . . . . 


" Table of Talkers . 


7> 


Your Bird Store 




THE SONG OF BIRDS. 

BY W. W. CALDWELL. 

When spring returns in bud and flower, 

And south winds breathe o'er hill and plain, 
And winter's cold hath lost its power ; 
Then longings come to hear again 

From field and grove the blackbird's call, 
The sparrow's chirp, and, over all. 
The bobolink's exultant strain. 



When summer blushes in the rose. 
And woodland odors fill the air, 
And all the grassy wayside glows 

With golden light and blossoms fair ; 
In welcome shade I love to rest. 
While near me, o'er his hidden nest, 
The linnet trills, and lulls my care : 



Or wake at early dawn, when now 
Faint flushes up the orient play. 
And hear from every leafy bough 
Glad choirs their adoration pay ; 
Or, when the twilight purples die. 
Thrill to the robin's plaintive cry. 
His farewell to departing day. 



THE SONG OF BIRDS. 

And still, when winter spreads around 

The chilly covering of the snow, 
And woods in dreary silence bound 
No more with sounds of joy o'erflow, 
Beside my hearth I sit, and hear 
The same sweet music ringing clear, 
And summer-time within I know. 

For look ! where at the window swings 

Yon blithe canary, full of glee ; 
And answers to my call, and sings 
All day his varied melody. 
So that I seem to hear again 
The skylark's song across the main^ 
Or nightingale in Thessaly. 

Newburyport, Jan. 14, 1875. 





THE CANARY. 



The sweetest music of nature is the singing of 
those little angels of the trees, the birds. It glad- 
dens the heart to hear their " wood-notes wild " 
ringing through those great cathedrals, the woods, 
phrasing in exquisite harmony their salutations 
to the golden dawn. Their song seems to make 
the sunshine brighter; and we have often fancied 
we could see the golden rays darting and flashing, 
and keeping time to their warblings. 



lO THE CANARY. 

No doubt, when Eve wandered through Eden, and 
Adam wove her a bower of blushing roses, that the 
birds sang the self-same tune which they do now, 
and that the angels often listened when they 
"walked in the garden in the cool of day." 

In all ages, in all countries, as far back as we 
have any record of time, the singing of birds has 
given delight to mankind ; and they must many 
a time have gladdened the hearts of Noah and his 
family, when he sailed over the wild waste of waters 
in his ark ; and the children that were with him 
would listen, and recall the green nestling places 
then deep down beneath the waves, where the sweet- 
voiced birds built and sang. 

The wild wood hath its minstrels sweet, 

That fill the forest-aisles with joy; 
And oft we seek their loved retreat, 

To listen to the singers coy. 
But not to woods need we repair 

To hear the sweet canary's song : 
He trills his clear and varied air 

In quiet homes or city throng. 
He loves our kindness and our praise, 
And gladly cheers our darkest days. 

Mary Helen Boodey. 

Europeans have never known, to a certainty, the 
exact date of introduction of this charming warbler. 
Aldrovandus describes the bird in his Ornithology, 
which bears date 1610. 

Many authors assert that the island of Elba was 
the first European ground on which a canary found 



FOOD FOR CANARY. I I 

resting-place, having flown thither from a ship bound 
to Leghorn, which foundered near the island. These 
sweet songsters, thus set at liberty by accident, found 
a congenial clime, remained, and bred ; and doubt- 
less would have continued to do so, had not bird- 
trappers hunted them so assiduously that not a 
single specimen was left on the island. 

From Italy the birds were transported to France 
and Germany ; and from the latter place the whole 
habitable globe is supplied. So we might with truth 
say, that, among the musicians who come to our 
shores to charm us with their notes, the largest 
orchestra is that of the singing-birds. They require 
very little of our money, and never demand an opera 
house as the only theatre worthy their performance. 
A few dollars will buy one of these sweet singers, 
and a few more will build or buy an opera house for 
his performances. 

Food for a Singing Canary is as follows : For 
food give only German summer rape seed and Sicily 
canary seed, mixed equal parts, and purchased, not 
at the nearest grocery, drug, or fancy goods store, 
but at a bird store. Keep gravel paper, or washed, 
silver, loose gravel on thick paper, in the cage; the 
paper keeps the bird's feet from the metal. A cut- 
tle-bone should always hang in the cage. One tenth 
of both white and yolk of a hard-boiled egg, grated, 
should be given twice a week, and, in moulting season, 
every day ; a piece of apple, sweet if can be had, 
two or three times a week; apple is better than let- 
tuce, celery, or any other green stuff. All canaries 



12 FOOD FOR CANARY; COLDS. 

should be fed the year through as above, except that 
the better grades of St. Andreasberg canaries should 
not have any canary seed. A canary may have two 
or three hemp seeds from fingers or lips once or 
twice a week, to encourage tameness. The bird may 
hang in the sunshine for an hour very early in the 
morning ; but a bird hanging in the sunshine at mid- 
day is in a bad place for his health or song. Nearly 
all birds keep in better health if not hung near a 
window. I have seen many so-called air-tight win- 
dows, but I never saw an air-tight window fit to hang 
a bird near in cold weather. A canary should bathe 
two or three times a week. Remove seed and water 
cups and the base of cage, and set body of cage over 
the bathing dish of tepid water, and then remove 
the perches. Use the regular canary bath-tub, with 
three quarters of an inch depth of water. If the bird 
will not bathe in the tub, try less water, and perhaps 
a dozen shapes and sizes of dishes, until you find 
the only one he will use ; sometimes this is an old 
flat saucer, with a quarter of an inch depth of water. 
The Cause of most Disease is colds, occasioned 
by either hanging a bird in a draught of air, near a 
loose-fitting window, or keeping him in a very hot 
room (sixty degrees is the proper temperature for a 
bird) through the day, and then in a cool one at 
night, — a variation of perhaps forty degrees in 
twenty-four hours. This cold, if not Cured at once, 
leads to asthma. Give a paste made from hard- 
boiled egg, ground cracker, and red pepper, thor- 
oughly mixed together, using no water in mixing, 



LOSS OF VOICE. 13 

the egg supplying sufficient moisture. Sometimes a 
bird seems hoarse, and apparently has 

Lost his Voice. — This is occasioned by over- 
singing : a little pure rock-candy, not flavored, dis- 
solved in the drinking-water, and a quantity of red 
pepper put into the paste described above, will 
usually effect a cure. If, however, the cold is allowed 
to remain for several days without any attention or 
cure, it will pass rapidly from cold to asthma, and 
from that to gapes, which is best described by saying 
that the bird looks like a little puff-ball, with a con- 
stant panting, and his bill almost constantly opening 
and shutting, as if to catch breath. His food should 
be the same as described above. Many bird-fanciers 
have given small pieces of salt-pork (cut about the 
size of seed) with a quantity of red pepper thereon, 
with beneficial effect ; also keep the bird warm, and 
give, with his rape and canary, ripe plantain if it can 
be had. Every morning he should have a small tea- 
spoonful of warm bread and milk, and now and then 
a little bit of sponge-cake soaked in sherry wine. 

Asthma, or Hard Breathing, when arising 
from an oppressed stomach, generally yields to 
plantain and rape-seed, moistened with water, as 
the sole food. 

Birds troubled with a Diarrhcea can be 
greatly relieved by placing a rusty nail in their 
drinking-water. Another excellent remedy will be 
found in common chalk ; let a small piece be placed 
between the wires ; it is also well to scrape some 
quite fine, and scatter it with the sand on the bottom 



14 A BIRD BRISTLES UP. 

of the cage. Should a bird be troubled with the 
reverse of this complaint, — 

CosTiVENESS, — a piece of sweet apple, a little 
chickweed, lettuce, or any green food, will usually 
afford full relief. Most ailments of birds commence 
with a cold ; and the old adage of the " ounce of 
prevention," &c., is peculiarly applicable to the bird 
family. Oftentimes 

A Bird bristles up, sits moping upon the perch, 
with his head under his wing, and looks like a puff- 
ball. If this is occasioned by the bird having diar- 
rhoea, give the remedies as directed. Should it be 
occasioned by costiveness, see article above. 

Occasionally a bird will act in this manner when 
he has neither of these complaints. Should this be 
the case, examine first his food, and see if he has 
been properly fed. Many times it will be found 
that it is wholly occasioned by neglect in not feeding 
the bird, and sometimes by not supplying sufficient 
water for the bird to drink. If, however, it should 
prove that the bird has plenty of food, and is per- 
fectly regular, then make a change in* his food, 
taking away the seed, and feeding the soft food as 
recommended for birds with colds, and perhaps a 
small piece of sweet apple. Occasionally a canary 
is troubled with 

Epilepsy. — A sure cure for this has never been 
discovered. The author has taken a bulfinch, and 
other birds affected, and cut the hind-claws just 
sufficient to draw the blood, holding the foot in warm 
(not hot) water until the blood ceased to flow ; then 



SNEEZING AND SWEATING. I5 

a slight sprinkling — with the hand — with cold 
water : then feeding only on rape-seed which had 
been previously soaked in water, and a liberal supply 
of apple and green stuff, as recommended above, 
has generally effected a cure. 

Rupture. — A kind of indigestion causes inflam- 
mation of the intestines, to which young birds are 
more especially subject. The symptoms are a swelling 
of the body, which, on blowing up the feathers, looks 
semi-transparent, and full of red veins ; at the lower 
part are black turgid lumps, as though the intestines 
had fallen there in a knotted state. The cause of 
this is generally an over-abundance of nutrition, or 
bad or stale food or water ; the remedy, if any there 
be, a spare diet, with a little alum or salt in the 
drink ; groats and oatmeal are good in this case ; if 
the bowels should be much relaxed, give bruised 
hemp and maw seed, with a little stale sponge-cake 
soaked in sherry wine. Sometimes the feathers of 
the bird come off : then rub the bare parts with fresh 
lard, or oil of almonds. 

Yellow Gall makes its appearance about the 
head and eyes ; sometimes there is a small ulcer the 
size of a hemp-seed. This must be carefully cut off 
with a sharp penknife, and the place anointed with 
fresh butter, or washed with chamber-lye ; the bird 
should have fresh nourishing food. 

Sneezing, often caused by an obstruction of the 
nostrils, may be cured by passing a very fine feather 
through them ; sometimes it is the result of a cold. 
Good food, and careful exclusion from draughts, are 
the remedies in this case. 



l6 WHEN A BIRD SHOULD MOULT. 

Sweating, — A female canary will at times con- 
fine herself too closely to the nest, and thus generate 
a superabundance of heat which often destroys the 
brood. Wash her in a good strong solution of salt, 
and after a few minutes with fresh water ; dry her as 
rapidly as possible in the sun. Do this once or 
twice a day, and sprinkle a little sherry wine over 
her plumage. Supply her with plenty of good food 
to tempt her off the nest ; she is most likely a weakly 
bird, and injures herself by sitting too close. A 
sweating female is not fit for a breeder, so never use 
her for this purpose twice. 

A question often asked is, — 

"When SHOULD a Bird moult?" — Most birds 
shed their feathers in the months of September and 
October ; and, though it is perfectly natural for them 
so to do, still the operation is accompanied with a 
slight disease. They should be fed on the soft 
paste before described ; and, as they are not well 
covered with feathers, great care should be taken to 
keep them in a comfortably warm place out of all 
draughts of air. With these precautions a bird will 
fully moult in from four to six weeks. Should a 
bird not shed his wing and tail feathers readily, it is 
well to pull them out, — pulling, however, only one 
at a time. 

Broken Limbs are best left to themselves. 
Human contrivances, where so fragile a thing as a 
bird's leg or wing is concerned, are generally more 
mischievous than useful: Nature will, if possible, 



SWOLLEN LIMBS AND SORE FEET. 1 7 

perform the cure. Place the little sufferer carefully 
and tenderly in a small cage, without perches, upon 
some soft hay; let the seed and water be within 
reach, muffle up the cage with flannel or baize, keep 
every thing as quiet as possible, so that the bird 
may not be excited to move ; the chances are, that, 
in a few days, all will be right again. 

Occasionally a bird's limbs will be covered with 
scales, particularly an old bird's. The best way to 
remove them is to moisten the limb with quite warm 
milk ; and a slight rubbing with the thumb and fore- 
finger back and forth will cause them to peel off. 
Care should be taken, however, not to break the 
under-skin. 

Swollen and Sore Limbs are greatly relieved, 
and oftentimes a permanent cure effected, by bath- 
ing the affected parts with diluted tincture of 
arnica. 

Sore Feet. — This disease is usually occasioned 
by using a very small perch, and also by not using 
sufficient gravel for the bird to keep his feet clean. 
The perches for a canary, or other bird of similar 
size, should never be less than seven-sixteenths of an 
inch in diameter, and even larger ; and for a mock- 
ing-bird, and all birds of his size, perches of five- 
eighths to three-quarters of an inch in diameter are 
far preferable. With such perches, and plenty of 
gravel, a bird will seldom have sore feet. Should 
he, however, be so troubled, the best remedy is to 
wash the feet in a gill of warm water to which has 
been added ten drops of tincture of arnica.. 



1 8 LONG CLAWS AND LOSS OF FEATHERS. 

It often happens that a 

Bird's Claws grow very long, and require 
cutting. This is a particular operation ; and care 
should be taken not to cut up into the blood-veins, 
which can be easily seen by holding the bird's claw 
in front of a strong light, and then not cutting with- 
in at least a sixteenth of an inch of the red vein. 

Why does my Bird lose the Feathers around 
HIS Bill, and his head become bare ? There are 
two reasons for this. First, many birds seem afflicted 
with an eruption, or skin-disease, which causes the 
feathers to drop out. Such birds should be fed 
principally upon rape-seed, and occasionally a small 
piece of raw carrot, of which most birds are very 
fond ; and, if a little olive-oil is at times put on the 
bare spot, the feathers will commence to grow more 
readily. Secondly, many birds are of a nervous 
and irritable disposition, never remaining in one 
position for a single instant, but are continually 
hopping to and fro against the wires of their cages, 
as if trying to get out, which is really the case ; 
and, by coming constantly in contact with the hard 
substance, they ruin their plumage. Such a bird 
should be hung quite low, or, better still, placed on 
a table where he can be occasionally talked to, and 
noticed : then he will soon become accustomed to 
his home. When partially quieted, bathe the bare 
parts with water into which has been placed ten 
drops of the tincture of arnica : after the soreness 
(if any there has been) disappears, use a little olive- 
oil, as before mentioned. 



BIRD-LICE AND LOSS OF APPETITE. I9 

One source of great annoyance to a bird, and also 
to his owner, is the 

Little Red Bird-Lice. — We now put up a 
powder harmless to birds, which is applied directly 
to the bird, and effectually rids him of these annoy- 
ing pests. It is put up in envelopes, and will be 
sent to any address by mail, prepaid, on receipt of 
twenty-five cents. 

Lost his Appetite. — At such times it is well 
to give a very little hemp, and all the millet-seed a 
bird will eat ; and, if convenient, change the loca- 
tion of his cage to a more cheerful place. 

These comprise about all the diseases that the 
canary is subject to ; and we will here state, that all 
of the family of seed-eating birds have about the 
same ailments, and require similar treatment. 

CuTTLE-FiSH. — There is an impression, quite 
general, that the only use for cuttle-fish is as a "bill- 
sharpener ; " this is erroneous. The cuttle-fish is a 
mollusk caught in the China Sea, and is very largely 
used by all manufacturers of tooth-powder, its salty 
particles readily removing the tartar. All seed-eat- 
ing birds are fond of this, its salty taste seeming to 
give them a great relish for food. 

Birds, when proper care is taken of them, are 
rarely attacked with disease. If owners of feath- 
ered pets would first see that the cage is perfectly 
clean, and well supplied with plenty of gravel or 
gravel-paper for the bird to pick upon, and that the 
seed is of the very best quality, and that they are 
fed, and given a bath, at a regular hour daily, — then 



20 BIRDS BATHING. 

birds, if kept from draughts of air, and no trash, 
such as sugar, candy, figs, raisins, cake, &c., fed 
them, will sing from ten to eleven months out of the 
year; which they always do with the poor families in 
Germany, who find it impossible to get such luxu- 
ries. It is only the wealthy and better classes that 
have so-called ''poor luck with birds." And why? 
Because they kill them with kindness, — though it is 
very unkind to the bird. 

I have often been told that a 

Bird will not bathe, and asked how we can 
make it. In reply, I can only say that I have never 
yet, in an experience of nearly twenty-five years, 
seen a bird that will not bathe. True, some will 
not enter a bath-dish, as we would wish them to, and 
will persist in putting their heads into their drink- 
ing-cups or fountains instead, and, after wetting 
their head, push it through their feathers, and then, 
with their bill, thoroughly clean themselves ; which 
is very like the person who uses the "wet end 
of a towel," instead of taking a proper ablution. 
For this there is no help ; and we can only hope, 
that, with age, they will discover the beauties of a 
toilet which can only be arranged after a first-class 
bath. 

"Do Birds bathe whilst mated?" I can 
only say, that some do, and some do not. It is al- 
ways well to give a bird its bath, and leave it to the 
bird's judgment whether to bathe or not. 

Saffron as a Medicine for birds seems to be 
almost in universal use, though why it is used is 



HOLDEN's bird cures. 21 

more than the author has ever been able to ascer- 
tain from those using it, more than that " My folks 
used to use it ; " and they presume that the bird 
required it. The medicinal property of saffron is 
diaphoretic, and used mostly to color and flavor 
other medicines. When chewed, it leaves a bitter 
taste in the mouth, though a pleasant aromatic 
flavor. It is not impossible that its bitter taste to 
the bird may give an increased appetite, which per- 
haps the bird needed, and in that way health is re- 
stored. The authoi;, however, has discovered no 
medicinal property in it, excepting that of a cathar- 
tic ; and, as such, it is very good. But quiet to the 
bird is the best remedy ; and it is best obtained by 
covering the bird up quite closely on the first ap- 
pearance of ailment. 

Remedial Agents. — We put up in envelopes 
simple remedies for the cure of the following com- 
plaints ; all of which are known as " Holden's Bird 
Cure." Cure No. One, for diarrhoea; No. Two, for 
constipation ; No. Three, for debility ; No. Four, for 
moulting ; No. Five, for asthma, and loss of voice. 
Either one of the above will be forwarded by mail, 
prepaid, on receipt of twenty-five cents. Or the 
five remedies mentioned above, and one package of 
German Insect Powder (see p. 19), will all be for- 
warded, prepaid, on receipt of one dollar and 
twenty-five cents. 

As many who own birds have a desire to breed 
them, a little information may not be amiss to the 
new beginner. 



2 2 GERMAN BREEDERS. 

Were you to visit one of the large breeding estao- 
lishments in Germany, you would observe a quantity 
of rooms arranged very much after the style of the 
sleeping-apartments of a hotel. Each of the rooms 
is properly furnished with light, ventilation, a quan- 
tity of small trees, feeding-boxes, water for bathing 
and drinking, and on the sides of the room a quan- 
tity of nests, and the floor covered with fine sand to 
the depth of three or more inches. In this room 
are placed twenty or more male birds, and three 
times their number of females ; and from this large 
feminine family every male chooses his mate, — and, 
reader, don't blush, for some of them choose even 
three and four mates, — all of which will hatch their 
young peacefully, and live one large, happy family 
together. 

The young birds (males) are taken at the age of 
six weeks, as they can then crack seed (and we will 
here remark, that, when they are fully feathered, they 
commence to warble ; that is, they fill their throats 
in the same manner as an old singing-bird : and this 
is the only way that male birds can be told from 
females when so very young), and placed in large 
cages, say twenty-five birds to a cage, and kept in 
rooms holding about twenty such cages until they 
are through moulting ; for a young bird, as soon as 
he is in full feather, commences to moult, or shed 
his body-feathers : his tail and wing feathers he 
sheds the second season. This moulting process 
requires about six weeks ; after which they are taken 
away from the sound of all singing canaries, into a 



BEAUTIFUL BELL-NOTE, ETC. 23 

room having a small opening in the top ; and in the 
room above them is kept a nightingale, skylark, or 
some other fine whistling bird, the best of his spe- 
cies, who acts as instructor for the young birds. It 
is from this instructor they get these beautiful notes, 
the bow-trill, the bell-note, the flute, the water-note, 
&c., which are so much admired. At the age of six 
months they become adepts at singing ; and then 
the exportation to all parts of the civilized world 
commences. 

Americans raise Birds wholly for pleasure ; and 
it certainly is a pleasure. What greater amusement 
can be furnished children, and, in fact, children of a 
larger growth, than mating birds, and then rearing 
a nest of beautiful canaries ? — to watch the busy 
weavers make their nest ; the constant care and 
attention given to it by the mother-bird during the 
season of " sitting," who is so regularly relieved by 
her loving mate, who ever and anon covers the eggs 
while she is seeking food or rest ? Alas ! our little 
canary-bird has taught many a lesson to the human 
family ; and the constancy of a bird to its mate is 
rarely equalled by the lords of creation. 

A suitable Cage for breeding can be either of 
wood, wired, or the ordinary japanned tin cage, or 
brass. Should you use an <7/^ wooden cage, it should 
be thoroughly scalded with hot soda-water, to kill all 
vermin, and then varnished over. The birds should 
have a nest — wire is the best — securely fastened 
into one corner of the cage, first covering the nest 
with canton, or cotton-and-wool flannel, and hung 



24 MATING SEASON. 

up against the wall at least a foot above your head, 
and in a southern aspect if possible, and not moved 
until you are through breeding for the season. 

There should always be placed in the cage, from 
a wall of some very old building that is being torn 
down, a piece of mortar to make egg-shells from ; as, 
without this, the female would lay soft-shell eggs. 

In vain did the oldest of our English poets pro- 
claim his mandate in our ears, saying, — 

*' Foules take heed of my sentence, I pray, 

And for your own ease in fordring of your need, 
As fast as I may speak, I will me speed : 
Ye know well how, on St. Valentine's Day, 

By my statute, and through my governaunce, 
Ye do chuse your mates, and after flie away 
With him, as I move you with plesaunce." 

From the 14th of February to the middle of May, 
all birds have what is known as the 

Mating Fever. — This fever, or sexual desire, is 
the strongest during the latter part of April,- and 
early in May ; and, if not mated, they sit moping 
with ruffled feathers, cease singing entirely, refuse 
their food, and often, in their silent sorrow, pine 
away and die. If their attention can be diverted 
from this " lovesickness," it should always be done. 
The better cure is to mate your bird. If this is incon- 
venient, place him in the cheerful sunlight, tempt 
him with dainty morsels of food, talk and whistle to 
him ; and, if you have a friend who owns a bird, let 
your bird visit him, and cheerful company will soon 
restore him ; or a better way still is to leave him at 
a well kept bird-store. 



HOW TO MATE BIRDS. 25 

A question often asked at bird-stores is, 

"How DO YOU MATE A PaIR OF BiRDS ? " The 

reader is supposed to own a male canary. If such 
supposition be true, then go to a first-class bird-store, 
and buy a female canary and breeding-cage ; and 
the very best way to mate a pair of birds is to place 
the female in the breeding-cage, and hang it up on 
one side of the room ; and, leaving the male bird i?i 
his cage, hang him up on the other side, and within 
sight of her. If he sings and calls to her, and she 
calls back in return, as much as to say, " May I 
come in your cage .? " then you can put them' 
together; and, though they may quarrel at first, this 
will be only of short duration, , and they will very 
soon mate. 

" The tuneful choir in amorous strains 
Accost their feathered loves ; 
While each fond mate, with equal pains, 
The tender suit approves." 

In MATING Birds, a young male and old female 
produce mostly male birds ; and those of about the 
same age produce about equal proportions of both 
males and females. 

A FEMALE Canary will mate with the following 
birds, and produce a very beautiful songster, which 
is known as a mule : the linnet, goldfinch, bulfinch, 
siskin, our native bobolink, indigo-bird, and other 
birds of a similar size ; and the male from these 
birds is very highly prized on account of his beauty 
and song. 

A hybrid variety is mentioned in a German work 



26 HOW TO RAISK HANDSOME BIRDS. 

as being a cross between a female bulfinch and a 
male canary ; in form and plumage it somewhat 
resembles both parents, and is a delightful songster, 
not so loud as the canary, but with notes more soft 
and mellow. This is a very rare bird, it being diffi- 
cult to breed and rear such. 

To PRODUCE A HANDSOME YELLOW BiRD, your male 
should be a jonquil, which is a deep yellow bird with 
almost an orange crown ; and the female a mealy 
bird, which is a whitish yellow, and has the appear- 
ance of being frosted or powdered all over. A clear 
yellow male and a mealy female will usually produce 
2i pure yellow bird ; while a clear yellow male mated 
with a gray or greeji female will usually produce a 
very handsome mottled bird. A deep yellow or 
orange-colored male with a very dark-green female 
often produces the highly prized cinnamon bird. 

After mating your birds, a period of only seven to 
eight days elapses before the female commences 
to lay ; and she will lay from four to seven . eggs, 
one each day, at about the same hour, and sit upon 
them for thirteen days, when the operation of 
hatching commences. 

Dealers in birds are constantly visited by owners 
of feathered pets to seek information on a subject 
to which their human instinct should furnish the 
answer. This is particularly the case in breeding- 
season ; and a question asked daily is, — 

" My Bird is egg-bound : what shall I do for it ? " 
A few questions from the dealer reveals the fact that 
the female has been fed upon dry seed, and food of 



HOW BIRDS ARE HATCHED. 27 

a clogging nature ; and the information given at 
once is, Feed your bird some green stuff or a piece 
of apple, thereby loosening it (which should have 
been done before mating), and, carefully taking the 
bird out, rub the passage gently with warm sweet-oil. 
At times birds are egg-bound from having taken 
cold : should this be the case, give also the reme- 
dies for a cold. 

Birds are hatched one each Day, until all the 
eggs are hatched. If it should happen that one or 
more eggs remain in the nest, and do not hatch at 
the proper time, it would be well to take them out of 
the nest carefully, using for this purpose a tea-spoon 
so as not to handle them, and hold them before a 
strong light ; and, if there is the appearance of 
blood-veins, place them back carefully ; for they may 
yet be hatched. If, upon the other hand, the egg be 
clear and transparent, it can be thrown away as 
worthless. It is a rule in Europe to never throw 
away an egg until it has been laid at least twenty- 
one days. 

From the time the young birds are born, the male 
bird helps feed them, if he is a good father, and so 
partially relieves the female. If he should at times 
seem quarrelsome with his mate, or show too 7nuch 
attention of a loving kind to her, it would be well to 
separate them, putting him in his own cage until the 
young birds are nearly feathered ; then, after they 
have perched a few nights, they can be removed to 
other cages, and the male returned, and another 
brood raised ; and the same operation repeated. 



28 BIRDS EAT THEIR EGGS. 

Cases have been known of raising seven broods in 
a season. 

** With cheerful hop from perch to spray, 
They sport along the meads; 
In social bliss together stray 
Where love or fancy leads. 

Through spring's gay scenes each happy pair 

Their fluttering joys pursue ; 
Its various charms and produce share, 

Forever kind and true." 

Those who raise birds are often annoyed by the 
male, and sometimes by the female bird 

Eating the Eggs as soon as they are laid : this 
usually occurs from improper feeding. Birds that 
are mated require* rich food ; and this rich food 
should be given for three to four weeks previous to 
mating them. When this is done, it is very rare 
that the eggs are disturbed. 

The richest and best food for your birds, in addi- 
tion to their regular mixed seed, — no hemp, — should 
be the following: one hard-boiled tgg — the whole 
egg — grated on a coarse horse-radish grater, ai;d 
one common soft cracker, rolled fine with a rolling- 
pin, or carefully grated, and then mixed together, 
and fed to the birds in small quantities at least 
twice per day ; and this food must be continued to 
the old birds until you are through breeding ; and 
the same food must be continued to the 

Young Birds until they can crack seed, which 
they can do with ease at the age of six weeks. It 
is, however, an advantage to soak some rape-seed, 



BIRDS LEFT TO STARVE. 29 

a-nd put it in for the young birds as soon as they 
leave the nest. 

Another source of great annoyance to bird-breed- 
ers is, that occasionally the old birds desert the 
young, and leave them to starve. This I never knew 
to occur where birds were placed in a suitable place, 
as described on p. 23, and always fed and cared 
for by the same person. It is the constant annoy- 
ance to which a bird is subjected that occasions 
this. It is usually the fault of those who have had 
this ill luck. They take great pride in the birds 
they are prospectively going to raise ; and, as soon 
as they are from the egg, the cage is taken down on 
all occasions, and shown to every visitor ; and, when 
it is too much trouble to- take it down, the step- 
ladder, a chair, or table is brought into action in 
order to show up the bird family ; and then the 
bird-dealers are asked the question, "Why did my 
old bird desert the young before they were a week 
old ? " Those who have had this ill luck doubtless 
see wherein success in the future awaits them. 

Occasionally there is no apparent cause for the 
old birds deserting the young. When such proves 
to be the case, and the old birds are very good ones, 
it is always well to bring the young up by hand, using 
the food described above, and using a quill with a 
small piece cut from one side, similar to the old- 
fashioned quill-pen. It can then be used as a spoon ; 
and, with three or four such spoonfuls, feed them 
every hour ; and not feed of tener than once an hour, 
using judgment in not over-feeding the birds. It is 



30 DOES A YOUNG BIRD MOULT? 

always a good rule to take the nest from the cage, 
and keep the young birds in it, covering them over 
slightly until they are well feathered. 

We are often asked the question, — 

"Does a Young Bird moult?" — Our answer 
is, Yes. A young bird is usually in full feather 
at the age of six weeks (we will here state, that, 
when he is four weeks old, he will swell up his 
throat, and try to warble ; and by this you can tell 
the males from the females) ; and, when he is in full 
feather, he commences to moult, or shed his body- 
feathers. The wing and tail feathers he does not 
shed until the second season : this process is slow in 
a young bird, and usually requires about eight 
weeks to change all the body-feathers ; during all of 
which time they should be fed, at least twice a week, 
on the hard-boiled egg and cracker, as described 
above, and kept out of all draughts of air. If your 
bird — the father of the young — is a good singer, 
the young birds will learn readily, and, at the age of 
six months, become fine songsters. 

The English-bred canaries are now becoming justly 
popular : their songs are pleasing, their plumage very 
bright and varied. Among these may be named the 
long and large Yorkshires and Manchesters ; the deep 
gold — both clear and pied — Norwich ; the Crimson, 
or Cayenne-fed, which are a deep orange or nearly 
crimson color, either clear or pied .; and the Gold or 
Silver Spangled Lizard canaries. The latter are the 
most magnificent in })lumage of all the canaries. 



CRIMSON AND GOLD-SPANGLED CANARIES. 31 

Crimson and Gold-Spangled Canaries. — There 
have been imported from England recently a few 
deep colored canaries, which, for the want of a more 
exact term, we have called "Crimson canaries." 
The color may be described perhaps as the deepest 
orange, with a tendency to shade on the crimson. 
Some are clear birds ; others have dark green crests ; 
while still others have dark green crests and green 
wings, the two colors making an elegant contrast. 

The present system of color-feeding is yet but little 
understood ; but it seems necessary to take deep yel- 
low birds, or deep yellow-and-green birds, and feed 
the brightest colored Cayenne pepper. Take a bird 
six or seven weeks old, and give him all he will eat of 
the mixture made of a whole boiled egg chopped fine, 
and an equal quantity of soft sweet buiscuit or cracker, 
and a heaped-up teaspoonful of Cayenne pepper. This 
may be fed in large or small quantities, as the bird 
seems to thrive or not on it. Give seeds only in small 
quantity while the bird does well on the soft food. 
Before a bird, thus colored, moults, he should again be 
fed in the same manner, and the same feed continued 
during the moult : otherwise the deep color will be lost. 

Gold-Spangled Lizard canaries, also bred originally 
in England, have bright gold-capped heads, and con- 
tinuous lines of spangles from the neck down the 
back. Each spangle is decided ; its clear gold edging 
and olive-green centre, being distinct and regular, 
mark the several rows with great beauty. The Silver- 
Spangled are marked exactly like the gold, but have 
silver-colored spangles where the others have the gold. 



32 ST. ANDREASBERG CANARIES. 

St. Andreasberg Canaries. — The best singing 
canaries known are bred in the German village of St. 
Andreasberg, situated on one of the highest summits 
of the Harz mountain range, famous for its clear air 
and pure water. This clear air and pure water un- 
doubtedly have their due effects on the voice of a 
bird ; but much more than this, and in addition to it, 
great care is taken to breed only the best grade of 
singers, and to put these under the instructions of 
those master-musicians the English larks and English 
nightingales. Hence this canary has no short or 
choppy notes ; but every tone is sweet, round, and 
full, — the song containing delightful bell-notes, low, 
water-bubble and charming flute notes, and long, sil- 
very trills and whistling notes. 

Those who tire of an ordinary screeching canary 
find in this grade restful bird melody which continually 
delights and surprises by its many changes. 

Our buyers, being residents in the village, have 
every facility for obtaining the best songsters : so we 
now sell one grade of these birds at five and six 
dollars each, and guarantee them satisfactory. 

Campanini Canaries. — These are the best sing- 
ing canary bred in St. Andreasberg; the song is, in 
quality, soft and sweet, every tone being true, mellow, 
and musical, while the singer displays great variety 
and compass. The voice draws its pictures on three 
octaves: now high and clear and sweet, then deep, 
low, resonant, inspiring. There are light and shade, 
foreground of brilliancy, and distant, subdued effects, 
but all one glorious masterpiece of song. 




THE GOLDFINCH. 

■ Oh ! what is so pretty, so cunning, so gay, 
So daintily busy the livelong day, 
As my little goldfinch, — beautiful pet, — 
With his butterfly wings, and cap of jet ? 



Far, far, from his native bowers of bloom. 
He lives a prisoner, yet feels no gloom ; 
For his merry glance and his sprightly song 
Tell plainly as words that he fears no wrong. 



34 THE GOLDFINCH. 

The Goldfinch, of all parlor birds, is certainly 
one of the' most delightful, alike for the beauty of 
his plumage, the excellence of his song, his proved 
docility, and remarkable cleverness. He is also very 
easily tamed, and is capable of great attachment to 
his owner; and may be taught various amusing 
tricks, such as dragging a little wagon up an inclined 
plane into his cage to supply himself with food, or 
to ring a bell whenever he requires attention, and to 
haul up water from a little well underneath the cage. 
All these he will learn very readily, and without 
any coercion. 

Goldfinches have been known to live confined in 
a cage for sixteen or twenty years ; and, though 
they may lose their bright colors, they retain their 
activity and cheerfulness of disposition. Their food, 
in their wild state, consists of all kinds of seeds, 
&c. : in a cage, they should be fed upon maw-seed. 
As their bill, though as sharp as a needle, is in young 
birds quite soft, and, although very fond of rape 
and canary seed, they cannot readily crack it until 
they are at least two years old, it would always be 
well to soak a little canary and rape for them, thereby 
softening the hull, and making it a matter of no 
trouble for them to crack ; and occasionally, as a 
reward for some trick, or display of affection, a few 
crushed hemp-seed, which he should be made to 
take from the hand. Most wild birds, when cap- 
tured, become in confinement sullen and dispirited : 
want of exercise and of a peculiar kind of food so 
alters the quality of the fluids, that fits and ailments 
3 



GOLDFINCH DISEASES. 35 

ensue ; and the bird mopes, and soon dies. Not so 
with the goldfinch : immediately after his capture he 
commences to feed on maw-seed, mixed equal parts 
with hemp, rape, and canary, frisk about the cage, 
and dress his plumage, without manifesting the least 
apparent regret for the loss of companions or liberty. 
His beauty, melody, and speedy reconciliation to 
confinement, render him a desirable companion ; and 
he is captured to cheer us with his manners and 
voice in airs and regions very different from his 
native thistly downs and apple-blossom bowers. 

There are many varieties of the goldfinch, shown 
by the difference in markings or colors of the 
plumage. The highest prized of these varieties are 
the scarlet-headed, which has the entire head colored 
in rich scarlet or crimson: there are no other mark- 
ings to mar the brilliancy of color on the head. 
This is a very rare and beautiful variety. The 
white-breasted Cheveral, or King Goldfinch, has 
a pure white breast, and clear white ring around the 
neck. This variety is highly prized as a breeder of 
white or handsomely marked goldfinch-canary h3'brid3. 
The white-legged variety is esteemed for the readi- 
ness with which he mates with the female canary. 
The Black Goldfinch is a variety which is obtained 
by keeping the bird in close confinement in a dark- 
ened room. The goldfinch hybrids are in some cases 
very beautiful birds, and exhibit a wonderful variety 
of markings and color. The pure white is the high- 
est prized, and the colors range from that of the 
above specimen to the very dark, and are varied by 



36 GOLDFINCH DISEASES. 

elegant spots of brilliant crimson or yellow through- 
out the plumage. The goldfinch is found throughout 
Europe, and in the summer season frequents gar- 
dens, groves, and even mountainous districts which 
are not altogether uncultivated. 

The goldfinch, when caged, sings throughout the 
year, with the exception of the moulting season. 
His song is on a high key, and real agreeable, and 
contains many warbles, trills, and twittering notes, 
which are intermingled in a most charming manner. 
The bird, during the continuance of his song, is in 
constant motion ; and these lively movements, com- 
bined with his graceful form, delicately blended 
colors, and sprightly song, make him one of the 
most attractive bird-objects with which a home can be 
adorned. Goldfinches may be reared in cages in 
the same manner as canaries ; their mating season 
begins in April. 

Goldfinch has Diseases, epilepsy, diarrhoea, 
constipation, etc., which may be treated in the same 
manner as like ailments in canaries. Decline, or 
wasting, is cured by changing the diet to richer food, 
giving freely apple or any fruit the bird will eat, and 
lean, raw, juicy, scraped beef. Giddiness may be 
treated by withdrawing the maw-seed and feeding on 
soaked millet and rape seeds. 

The goldfinch, if properly cared for, will live 
caged for twelve or sixteen years, and in his old age 
will lose none of his gay colors, general friskiness, 
or sprightly melody. His cage should be of the 
square style, from ten to sixteen inches long. 




TffE LINNET. 

I wadna gie the Untie' s sang, 

Sae merry on the broomy lea, 
For all the harps that ever rang 

In all the halls of minstrelsie. 
Mair dear to me, where bush or breer 

Amang the pathless heather grows, 

The Untie' s wild sweet note to hear, 

As on the ev'nin' bree2e it flows. 

Burns. 

The Linnet, either gray or brown, is a beautiful 
songster, and is very generally kept throughout Eu- 
rope. He is of a hardy constitution, easily domesti- 
cated, a most lovely and constant singer, uttering 
many very sweet, flute-like notes ; and if fed princi- 
pally on canary and rape seed, with occasionally a 
very feiv hemp seed, will remain in health. 

These two birds are spoken of as two distinct 
varieties, but in reality they are not ; for the same 
bird which at one year old, when it has no red feath- 
ers in the head, is a gray limiet^ becomes after the 
second moulting, when the red of the breast takes a 
golden hue from the yellowish-white margins of the 

Z1 



38 THE LINNET. 

feathers, a yellow linnet ; and in the spring of 
the third year, when the forehead is blood red, the 
feathers on the side of the breast the same color, 
and a ferruginous tinge prevails over the whole body, 
the bird comes out in all his glory as a rose linnet. 
By and by, when age steals on, or sickness or con- 
finement tell upon the constitution of the sweet 
songster, he falls from his high estate ; his plumage 
changes, and he is a brown, gray, or yellow linnet, 
as the case may be. There is scarcely any bird, per- 
haps, that puts on so many different dresses in the 
course of his life as our little linnet ; there is 
scarcely any telling what changes each moult will 
produce : that is, in a state of confinement ; for in 
a natural state the bird will go through its regular 
gradations of plumage in a natural manner, and one 
may safely judge of his age by his dress ; but in an 
artificial state it is not so. 

H^ is fond of bathing, and we might say of two 
kinds : first, like the skylark, in plenty of gravel (of 
which there must be an abundance in the cage) ; 
and, second, in water, and a bathing-dish must be 
given daily. His diseases are similar to all seed- 
eating birds in confinement ; and the treatment 
must be the same, for which see article on Sick 
Birds. 

Linnet Mules. — The male linnet will some- 
times mate with the canary ; but the mules are not 
nearly so beautiful as the offspring of the goldfinch 
and canary, though they are generally good song- 
sters, and highly prized on that account. 



THE SISKIN. 

The Siskin, sometimes called the black-headed 
thistlefinch, in point of beauty will bear no com- 
parison with the goldfinch, although possessing 
this recommendation in a high degree. The prevail- 
ing color of plumage is a yellowish green, elegantly 
marked and shaded with black ; a neat little bird, 
with a short tail, and stout beak ; the top of the head 
is altogether black, hence one of its names. 

This, as well as the goldfinch and linnet, is one of 
the species used in crossing with the canary. In 
Europe a favorite cage-bird, and really a beautifully 
plumaged one. Their song is short and low, though 
very agreeable, and they imitate with facility the 
notes of various birds. Caged, they should be fed 
on maw-seed mixed with crushed hemp. As they 
are a greedy bird, care must be taken not to feed 
them too much. In health or sickness their treat- 
ment, except feeding, should be the same as the 
canary. 

39 



^'■>?*>4. 




THE CHAFFINCH. 

" The low, sweet singing of a bird, 
The murmur of the breeze, — 
How soft would glide our fleeting hours, 
Blest as the sunshine and the flowers, 
And calm as summer seas !" 



Amelia. 



The Chaffinch. — Who that has ever read the 
letter of Michelet to his good wife, in his work en- 
titled " The Bird," could have failed to read his 
vivid description of a poor blind chaffinch that was 
offered for sale in the great bird auction rooms in 
Paris ? This bird had been a pet ; and poverty in 
the family had compelled his sale. This bird is one 
of the many European song-birds, and for the sweet- 
40 



SONG OF CHAFFINCH. 41 

ness of his song, as well as for his sleek plumage, 
should be generally kept. 

In Germany chaffinches are so highly valued that 
very high prices are given for them if they possess 
a fine song ; a common workman will give sixteen 
shillings for a bird whose notes he considers good, 
and will frequently live upon bread and water until 
he can save money to purchase the desired ob- 
ject. 

His wild notes are soft and mellow, but have 
little variety : they are first heard very early in the 
year ; for Chaffy seems at all times ambitious to open 
the vernal chorus, and to make a start before any 
other of the feathered musicians have got their in- 
struments in order. A curious circumstance con- 
nected with the natural history of chaffinches is, 
that the males and females separate during the 
winter, and resort to different parts of the country : 
hence the scientific name ccelebs^ or the bachelor, ap- 
plied to this bird. In Europe they have singing 
matches amongst their birds, and the chaffinch that 
sings the greatest number of perfect notes within a 
given time gains the prize for his owner. A perfect 
note is represented by the syllables toll-loll-loll-chick- 
wee-do ; and if a bird slurs them over, or stops at 
chick or wee, the note is not counted. 

They are extremely docile, and can be trained, or 
taught to perform many amusing tricks. Their food 
should be the same as the canary ; adding, however, 
in the spring, a few hemp-seed to induce them tr 
sing more freely. 



42 THE BIRDS OF KILLING WORTH. 



■ The ballad-singers and the troubadours, 

The street-musicians of the heavenly city, — 
The birds, who make sweet music for us alj 
In our dark hours, as David did for Saul. 

The thrush that carols at the dawn of day 
From the green steeples of the piny wood ; 

The oriole in the elm ; the noisy jay, 
Jargoning like a foreigner at his food ; 

The bluebird balanced on some topmost spray, 
Flooding with melody the neighborhood ; 

Linnet and meadow-lark, and all the throng 

That dwell in nests, and have the gift of song. 

Whose household words are songs in many keys, 

Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught. 
Whose habitations in the tree-tops even 
Are half-way houses on the road to heaven. 

Think, every morning when the sun peeps through 
The dim, leaf-latticed windows of the grove. 

How jubilant the happy birds renew 
Their old, melodious madrigals of love ! " 

Longfellow. 





\ 




s^^^ 



THE BULFINCH. 

BuLFiNCH. — This bird has no natural song, but is 
gifted with the ability of imitating, with an astonish- 
ing accuracy, in a sweet and fiutelike tone, almost 
any air that is whistled, or played to them on an 
instrument. This has made him a great favorite 
among all lovers of birds. 

In Germany, particularly in Hesse and Saxony, a 
large number of these birds are taught, and by the 
dealers brought to various parts of the world. The 
raising and teaching is generally accomplished by 
shoemakers, tailors, and weavers, who, being con- 
fined to their rooms, are thus enabled to take care of 
them. The teaching begins from the time they are 
taken into the house. The tune that it is intended 
ihey should learn is whistled to them — whistling is 
always preferred, as instruments are generally too 
shrill — several times a day, more particularly in 
the morning and evening. The tune must be whis- 
tled always in the same key, and no other tune 
whistled in the hearing of the bird, which is kept 

43 



44 



THE BULFINCH. 



in rather a dark place during the process of train- 
ing. 

Taken as they are when quite young, and brought 
up by hand; they are always tame, and will take food 
from the hand of any one, and may be trained to 
sing or pipe their tune at command : they very soon 
learn to know the person who feeds them, — andl 
we will here remark that the same person should 
always feed them, — and will pipe their tune, making: 
beautiful and elegant gestures, now moving the 
body, and then the head, first to the right, then to 
the left, spreading the tail like a fan, and seem- 
ingly "fanning" with it, when they commence with 
a short flourish, or prelude, and pipe their tune 
through perfectly. 

The bulfinch should be fed principally on sum- 
mer rape-seed, to which may be added a little 
canary, and occasionally one or two hemp-seed, as 
a reward for piping his tune. Sugar, sweet-cakes, 
or such-like delicacies, spoil their taste, and should 
not be given to them. A little greens in the sum 
mer, or sweet apple in the winter, is very whole 
some, both of which must be fresh. As their claws 
grow very fast, and also very hooking, they must be 
cut at least twice a year. They must always be 
handled very gently, as they are easily frightened, 
and harsh treatment often causes their death. 

These birds usually moult in the month of Sep 
tember ; and, as they shed their feathers very rap- 
idly, — sometimes becoming ^/w^j"/ /^^r(f in one day, 
—great care must be taken to keep them from all 



THE BULFINCH. 45 

draughts of air; and, in addition to their regulai 
seed, a little of the yolk of a hard-boiled egg 
should be fed them at least three times a week. 

The bulfinch has diseases. These, however, are 
usually caused by improper care ; for if the bird 
be fed and watered regularly every day, at the 
same hour and by the same person, and plenty of 
dry sand freely used, the cause of disease is greatly 
reduced. Occasionally these birds are troubled 
with a diarrhoea, and can be greatly relieved, and 
many times a permanent cure effected, by placing 
a rusty nail in their drinking-water : a nail should 
also be placed in their drinking-water during moult- 
ing season ; and, should a bird be troubled with the 
reverse of this complaint, — costiveness, — a piece 
of sweet apple, a little chickweed, lettuce, or any 
green food, will usually afford full relief. Occa- 
sionally this bird will appear dumpish, sitting all 
day upon his perch with ruffled feathers : the best 
mode of treatment is to give him a supply of maw, oi 
what is sometimes called poppy-seed, which will in 
most cases quickly restore him to his usual spirits. 

Piping bulfinches arrive from Europe about 
December i each year, and are on sale from then 
until June i, and I have some seasons had them for 
sale all through the year. To me they are the most 
charming and enjoyable of all cage birds. They 
pipe " How can I leave thee," "The bridal wreath 
for thee we twine," " Away to the wildwood," 
" Polly Perkins," " I will love you forever," "The 
mill in the valley," " America," and other songs. 




THE NIGHTINGALE. 

Night from her ebon throne stoops down to listen 
To this the sweetest songster of the grove ; 

And pulses thrill, and eyes with rapture glisten, 
As forth she pours her plaintive song of love." 



This bird is decidedly the most melodious of all 
singing-birds. The compass, flexibility, prodigious 
variety, and harmony of his voice, make him the 
46 



THE NIGHTINGALE. 47 

greatest favorite of the lovers of the beauty of na- 
ture. Coleridge wrote thus of this bird : — 

" The merry nightingale, 
That crowds and hurries and precipitates, 
With fast, thick warble, his delicious notes, 
As if he were fearful that an April night 
Would be too short for him to utter forth 
His love-chant, and disburden his full soul 
Of all its music." 

He will sometimes dwell for several seconds on a 
strain composed of only two or three melancholy 
tones, beginning in an under-voice, and swelling it 
gradually by a most superb crescendo to the highest 
point of strength, then ending it by a dying cadence. 
His very striking musical talent, surpassing all other 
singing-birds, has acquired for him the name of the 
king of songsters. His food is the same as the 
American mocking-bird. 

When caged and well treated, they will sing for 
six or eight months during the year : some begin in 
December, some in January, and some in Febiuary, 
and sing till the month of July. 

Improper feeding, and other causes, have seemed, 
so far, to render it almost an impossibility to keep 
one of these birds more than a few months ; and, 
for the benefit of the lovers of this bird, we will give 
an extract from a letter from Mr. George B. Pear- 
son of Beverly, Mass. He says, — 

" As I write you, four p.m., Jan. 7, 1875, ^^^Y night- 
ingale is singing sweetly. He commenced singing 



48 THE NIGHTINGALE. 

early in December, 1873 ; and he did not cease to 
sing until September, 1874. He moults with no 
trouble at all, and since I have owned him has not 
had a sick hour. Your books will show you that I 
purchased him in the winter of 1872 ; and you did 
not advise me to buy him, but to ' wait for a better 
bird later in the season.' 

" I cannot agree with high authorities, that the 
nightingale is a difficult bird to keep in the cage, 
if you know how to take care of him. With the 
very best of intentions, most persons starve their 
nightingales. The bird is an enormous eater. Less 
than half the size of a mocking-bird, he will eat 
double the quantity of food that the mocking-bird 
will eat ; and he requires it. But he is a very pa- 
tient bird, and will not, as will both the mocking- 
bird and black-cap, tell you by restless motion or 
call that he needs food. You may never fear to 
give a nightingale as much food as he will eat. 

" His daily bread and butter should be the pre- 
pared mocking-bird's food. Vary this food with 
grated carrot and ants' eggs, hard-boiled egg and" 
ants' eggs, yellow turnip and ants' eggs, elderber- 
ries and ants' eggs (all of these half and half each), 
and ants' eggs moistened with water, alone by them- 
selves, and you have a bill of fare that will give you 
delicious song. 

" Can you obtain meal-worms, give your bird as 
many as you can afford to give him. He will sing all 
the better for every worm eaten. He is not a deli- 
cate bird, as, for example, the mocking-bird, if you 



THE NIGHTINGALE. 49 

feed him on the right food. He is the king of song- 
sters, and he has the king of digestive organs. My 
bird sings from sunrise to sunset, and never a note 
at any other hour. When silent, a meal-worm will 
make him sing during the above-named hours. He 
will sing very loud till he silences my mocking- 
bird, and so loud that his song is disagreeable ; but 
when he has silenced my other birds, thirteen in 
number, he will delight you for hours. 

" I have always been very particular to keep his 
cage, perches, and feeding-dish very clean ; have 
used gravel (sand) in the cage freely, and given him 
his bath daily ; and I see no reason why, if the same 
rule is followed, that any bird cannot be kept in 
health and song for many years." 
4 





THE BLACK-CAP. 

'Sweet warblers of the sunny hours, 

Forever on the wing, 
I love them as I love the flowers, 

The sunlight, and the spring. 
They come like pleasant memories 

In summer's joyous time. 
And sing their gushing melodies . 

As I would sing a rhyme. 

In the green and quiet places, 

Where the golden sunlight falls, 
We sit with smiling faces 

To list their silver calls. 
And, when their holy anthems 

Come pealing through the air, 
Our hearts leap forth to meet them 

With a blessing and a prayer. 

Amid the morning's fragrant dew, 

Amid the mists of even, 
They warble on as if they drew 

Their music down from heaven. 
How sweetly sounds each mellow note 

Beneath the moon's pale ray. 
When dying zephyrs rise and float 

Like lovers' sighs away ! " 



THE BLACK-CAP. 51 

The Black-Cap, sometimes called the mock 
nightingale, possesses, in the opinion of some, 
powers of song equal to those of the more univer- 
sally acknowledged leader of the sylvan choir. He 
is a most delightful singer ; and his notes, though 
quite different, are no less admirable than the 
nightingale's, and are heard throughout the year, 
during the whole day, except in the moulting 
season. This may also be called the English 
mocking-bird, as he readily catches the notes of any 
other songster which he chances to hear. Sweet 
says that he has heard the black-cap imitate the 
nightingale so exactly that even his practised ear 
was deceived. 

If you love real bird-music, procure a black-cap at 
any cost ; for he will make the whole house ring 
again, his song is so full, so sweet, so deep and loud, 
and so enriched with a variety of oily, silvery mod- 
ulations, especially that long, soft shake, which, 
though it sinks gradually into the lowest note a bird 
can utter, is heard as distinctly as the louder tones ; 
and then just as you think it is about to die away, 
and you begin to anticipate the silence that must 
follow, higher and higher swells the song to the lofti- 
est burst of melody, and you feel as if you wouldn't 
part with the bird for twenty times his weight in gold. 
When singing he distends his little throat, while the 
whole body quivers with delight, telling that he feels 
as much pleasure as he gives to the listener. Gil- 
bert White, whose " Natural History of Selborne " 
every boy ought to read for the sake of its beautiful 



52 THE BLACK-CAP. 

descriptions of the habits of birds and animals, 
speaking of the black-cap, says his " note has such 
a wild sweetness that it always brings to my mind 
those lines in a song in Shakspeare's *As You 
Like It : ' — 

' And tune his merry note 
Unto the sweet bird's throat.' " 

And I have no doubt in my own mind that Shak- 
speare was listening to the singing of the black-cap, 
or called to memory his notes, as he had often heard 
them when a boy in the green fields that spread 
around his native place, when he composed that 
beautiful and simple song which begins with, — 

"Under the greenwood tree, 
"Who loves to lie with me." 

The back and wings of the black-cap are of an 
olive gray, throat and breast of a silvery gray, belly 
and vent white, sides of the head and back of the 
neck ash color, and the top of head black as night, 
whence the name. Caged, he requires the same 
food as all soft-bill birds, with the addition of 
elderberries, of which he is very fond. The black- 
cap, and most of the genus, suffer from tender feet, 
and swellings or warts upon them : a little cold 
cream will soon cure these. 




TO A SKY-LARK. 

Ethereal minstrel ! pilgrim of the sky ! 
Dost thou despise the earth where cares abound ? 
Or, while the wings aspire, are heart and eye 
Both with thy nest upon the dewy ground ? — 
Thy nest, which thou canst drop into at will. 
Those quivering wings composed, that music still. 

Leave to the nightingale her shady wood : 

A privacy of glorious light is thine ; 

"Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood 

Of harmony, with instinct more divine. 

Type of the wise who soar, but never roam. 

True to the kindred points of heaven and home. 

Wordsworth. 



54 THE SKY-LARK. 

This beautiful warbler is spread all over Europe, 
and has the most peculiar manner of flying of any 
of the feathered tribe, his movement being invaria- 
bly upwards in a perpendicular line ; after leaving 
his grassy abode, beginning his melodious song, 
which he continues unceasingly till nearly out of 
sight, looking like a mere speck, towards the heav- 
ens, — and even then you may hear his sweet voice 
dying away as if in the clouds, — he descends in like 
manner, still continuing to gratify his hearers below 
with his own peculiar melody till within a short dis- 
tance from his nest ; then silently alighting, hiding 
himself in the grass, fearing, as if by instinct, some 
straggling wanderers were watching his movements, 
to find out the spot to " rob a bird's-nest," when he 
creeps along, quite unseen, to visit his home and 
little family. He is the bird that Shakspeare fancied 
went singing up into the very gates of heaven ; the 
minstrel of the sky, who makes all the gold and sil- 
ver pillars in cloud-land echo when he warbles in 
his great star-roofed skyey hall. This is the bird 
that sleeps beside the daisies, and among the gentle 
lambs ; that makes a nest in any hole in the ground, 
the print of a horse's or bullock's hoof serving as 
well as any thing else in which to deposit the five 
greenish-white brown spotted eggs. The sky-lark 
will readily imitate the songs of other birds, and 
also learn tunes, and in confinement sings during 
half the year, and may be tamed so as to come and 
eat from the hand. 




THE WOOD-LARK. 



" What time the timorous hare trips forth to feed, 
When the scared owl skims round the grassy mead, 
Then high in air, and poised upon his wings. 
Unseen the soft enamoured wood-lark sings." 

The Wood-lark is also a beautiful bird, and 
resembles the sky-lark in color, but is smaller. If 
he cannot soar so high nor sing so sweetly as the 
sky-lark, he can do what the latter can't ; and that is, 
either sit and smg on the branch of a tree, or have 
a fly, and carry his music along with him. But, 
though so partial to perching on a branch, like the 
sky-lark he builds on the ground. Some bird-fan- 
ciers say he possesses a more musical and sonorous 

55 



56 THE WOOD-LARK. 

note than most other singing-birds ; but his imitative 
faculties are not very good, for, unless reared from 
the nest near some other birds, he will not learn their 
strains. His song is very much prized, and ranked 
by many amateurs next to the nightingale's: he sings 
far into the night. This bird is more easily tamed 
than the sky-lark, and appears more happy in captiv- 
ity. He is of an affectionate disposition, and, if 
pains are taken to gain his affection, will become 
much attached to his owner ; but he is a delicate 
bird, and dainty in appetite, and requires variety in 
food. Most of the wood-larks perch, therefore he 
must have a square perch put into his cage ; but, if 
not used, it should be taken away. He must have a 
fresh-cut turf, if possible, once a week, and plenty of 
gravel and chalk. It is very rare that either of 
the larks will take a bath, much preferring — like 
domestic fowls — to dust themselves ; and for this 
reason sand or gravel must be used very freely, and 
always kept in the cage to the depth of not less 
than half an inch. The lark requires what is known 
as the lark-cage, and will not do well in any other. 
It is a low-priced cage, and can always be purchased 
at any bird-store. The food of the sky and wood 
lark is the same as the American mocking-bird. If 
the bird is unwell, or becomes loose, grate a little 
cheese into his food : some licorice in his water will 
also be of service, as likewise a spider occasionally. 




THE THRUSH. 

But when the morning broke, and the green woods 

Were all alive with birds, with what a clear 

And ravishing sweetness sang the plaintive thrush ! 

I love to hear his delicate rich voice. 

Chanting through all the gloomy day, when loud 

Amid the trees is dropping the big rain, 

And gray mists wrap the hills ; for aye the sweeter 

His song is when the day is sad and dark. 

LongfcUmv. 



The Song-Thrush is a most melodious singer, 
being gifted with a more powerful tone than any of 
the feathered choristers of the European forest. 
This speckled musician pleases with delight, and 

57 



58 THE THRUSH. 

satisfies, as it were, the very soul of the listener. 
In the wild state he sings only during the spring ; 
but, when caged and properly treated, will sing eight 
or nnie months of the year, commencing about 
December or January. It is for this reason, as well 
as for his beautiful song, that the thrush is so much 
kept in cages, and domesticated. 

Ke must have a large cage, well strewn with 
coarse sand or gravel, and should be well supplied 
with water for drinking and bathing ; but his bath 
should be taken away when used, as the bird is 
liable to cramp. The food and water should be put 
outside of the cage, if possible. The thrush will 
live many years in confinement, if properly fed and 
cared for. The ailment to which he is most subject 
is constipation. A large spider is the best remedy ; 
abundance of pure fresh air, and a change of diet, 
should be given. The male and female are so much 
alike in color, that it is very difficult to distinguish 
them : the female is a litde smaller, and has not 
quite such a glossy brown plumage as the male ; so 
that the purchaser of a thrush should make sure of 
the sex by hearing the song. The male has great 
imitative powers, and will readily learn tunes played 
on wind instruments or whistled* to him. Food 
3am3 as preceding. 




THE BLACKBIRD. 



**0 blackbird ! sing me something well : 

While all the neighbors shoot thee round, 
I keep smooth plats of fruitful ground, 
Where thou may'st warble, eat, and dwell." 

Tennyson, 

The Blackbird, whose plumage is of a pure vel- 
vety bi-ack, with an orange-yellow bill, is a fine 
songstei-. The notes, though not so various as 
those of the thrush, still are of a more sweet, flute- 
like tone. Besides this, he possesses the ability of 
imitating airs which are whistled to him : these he 
executes with great perfection, and is said never to 
forget a tune once learned. An anecdote is told of 

59 



6o THE BLACKBIRD. 

one who had been taught to whistle an air, which, 
on hearing played with variations on the piano, af- 
fronted him so exceedingly that he hissed and flut- 
tered his wings till the performance stopped, and 
then gave his version of the air, whistling it all 
through as he had learned it. The same bird fell 
into the hands of a lady whose custom it was to 
have the Evening Hymn sung at the conclusion of 
family prayers. He caught the tune, and always 
accompanied their voices, and from that time regu- 
larly whistled it every evening at the same hour, 
long after he had passed into another family, and 
continued the practice for the remainder of his life. 
The blackbird will also learn to imitate the songs of 
other birds, the crowing of a cock, the gobble of a 
turkey, and in his wild state will often mimic them. 

He is very fond of bathing, and may have a good 
deep bath daily in the sunshine ; but his cage should 
not be left wet, as he is subject to cramp like the 
thrush : there should be plenty of dry sand or 
gravel on the floor. 

He will live in captivity from twelve to sixteen 
years, and sing in a loud and joyous tone the whole 
year, except during the moulting season. 

When in a wild state, this bird sings only three 
months in the year ; when caged, nearly throughout 
the year. His food and treatment are the same as 
for the mocking-bird. 




ROBIN REDBREAST. 



" Good-by, good-by to summer, 
For summer's nearly done ; 
The garden smiling faintly, 
Cool breezes in the sun ; 
The thrushes now are silent, 
Our swallows flown away. 
But Robin's here in coat of brown, 
A.nd scarlet breast-knot gay. 
Robin, Robin Redbreast, 

O Robin dear ! 
Robin sings so sweetly 

In the falling of the year ! " 

The English Robin Redbreast. — This bird 
is very popular in Europe, particularly in England, 
being lively and very handsome. He is easily 
tamed, so as to be let out of his cage, and play 
about a room. 

He has, by fearless conduct, earned golden opin- 
ions from all classes of men. Every nation seems 

6i 



62 ENGLISH ROBIN. 

to protect him. Even the American redbreast 
lives unharmed, possibly on accomit of his connec- 
tion with his English relation, whose oft-told charity I 
is mentioned in the good old ballad of the " Babe?' 
in the Wood " whom Robin Redbreast "painfully" 
did bury beneath the leaves : — 

" Leaves of all hues, gold, red, and green, 

Ruins of summer bowers ; 

A thousand times more beautiful 

Than all her choicest flowers." 

In the winter, when the berries are gone, insects 
dead, and the worms hidden under the hard-frozen 
soil, then the robin flies for refuge to the habita- 
tions of man for shelter and food. It is very amus- 
ing to see the half-trusting, half-fearful look with 
which he hops to the window-sill for the first time. 
After a while he becomes bold, and taps at the win- 
dow, if the expected crumbs are not thrown out. 
He possesses a sweet warbling song, is very fond 
of bathing, and should therefore be daily provided 
with a bath ; but, when allowed to fly about a room, 
care must be taken not to leave a pitcher or any 
large vessel with water within reach, as he is very 
apt to try to bathe in it, and frequently gets 
drowned. Being a soft-bill bird, his food is the 
same as the preceding birds. 




THE STARLING. 

The Starling. — His natural song is racher 
poor ; but he has a wonderfully good memory. He 
will learn to repeat several airs that are played to 
him, with great ease ; nay, more : he learns to pro- 
nounce words very distinctly, or imitate the song of 
other birds, or any sounds when repeatedly heard. 
Besides this, he becomes very tame in the house, so 
as to be let out of the cage, and walk about the 
room. He soon knows all the persons in the house, 
is always gay and wakeful, and as docile and cun- 
ning as a dog. His food and treatment may be the 
same as that of the mocking-bird. He is a very 
hardy bird, and will sometimes attain thQ age of fif- 
teen years. 

63 




THE TALKING MINOR. 

The Talking Minor, or "musical grakle," is a good 
talking bird, and can accurately whistle in sweet, full 
tones any song which may be taught him. A minor 
will converse at any time, and correctly reply to in- 
quiries respecting his health or feehngs — though 
sometimes, if pressed too closely, my own bird will 
consign the too-inquisitive person to that proverbially 
hot country. 

He is a vain bird, saying often, " Pretty minor," 
" What a pretty minor ! " and replying to the common 
salutation says, " I'm pretty well : how are you? Will 
you have a glass of champagne ? " 

He is about the size of a dove ; and his beak, feet, 
and legs are orange-color. The prevailing hue of the 
plumage is a glossy black, which is tinged with purple, 
violet, and green, according to the light in which it 
is viewed. The feathers on the head are short and 
glossy, and* have the appearance of satin velvet. Be- 
low each eye is a small bright yellow naked mem- 
64 



THE TALKING MINOR. 65 

brane ; and close to these, but detached, another 
extends from each side to the back of the head and 
down on the neck. A white stripe in each wing, with 
the bright hues mentioned above, combined with ele- 
gant form and graceful movements, make the bird uni- 
versally admired. He is a native of the East Indies. 

An East-Indian acquaintance of mine used to have 
her children say the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' 
Creed at a regular hour each evening ; but, whenever 
the children were absent at the usual hour, her minor, 
with most devout tone, would commence with " Our 
Father," and repeat the prayer and the whole of the 
creed. 

The minor as a talking bird is unsurpassed. He 
speaks plainly, and can acquire and retain an unlimited 
number of words, which he readily forms into sen- 
tences. My own bird will converse with me or a 
stranger at any time, and can whistle, in full, sweet 
tones, a regular song which has been taught him. 
He flies about the house friendly to all, including the 
cat and dog. He is fond of fruits and berries, which 
are good food for him ; and if a ripe cherry is shown 
him he cries for it. He is fed daily on.Holden's Pre- 
pared Food, the same as all soft-bill birds ; boiled egg 
and boiled potato is good for him, and, once or twice 
a week, lean raw beef chopped fine is beneficial. He 
is fond of bathing, and has the tub daily. He is tough 
and strong, and should live in good health caged very 
many years. The bird has been known to live sev- 
enty-five years. The suitable cage is twenty-four to 
thirty inches long and about twenty inches high. 




THE GRAY PARROT. 

Fie, silly bird ! ' I answered, tuck 
Your head beneath your wing. 

And go to sleep ; ' but o'er and o'er 
He asked the selfsame thing. 

Then, smiling, to myself I said, — 
' How like are men and birds ! 

We all are saying what he says, 
In action or in words.' " 



Whittier. 

In the parrot family, the African gray, with ashen 
gray body, black bill, light gray face, and scarlet tail> 
takes high rank. Until the bird is a year old the 
body plumage is a darker gray, and the tail dark brown^ 
excepting close to the body, where the crimson shows 
a little. The birds vary from twelve to fifteen inches. 

66 



THE GRAY PARROT. 



67 



ill length, about the size of a common pigeon. Some- 
times a bird has red feathers in spots on the back ; 
this is known as a "■ king " African, and is highly 
esteemed, and commands a higher price, being con- 
sidered more intelligent; but I am not certain that 
the " king " learns any more than his subjects can. 
West and Central Africa is its home ; and from there 
these birds are brought to ' America, either, via Eng- 
land in steamers, or direct in sailing-vessels, a few of 
which arrive at New York, but most of them arrive 
in Boston. The birds brought in sailing-vessels are 
preferred, because they get acclimated in the longer 
trip, and have also better care when brought by the 
captains themselves, some of whom have been fur- 
nishing me with birds for over ten years, in both cities. 
These birds make excellent talkers and whistlers, 
and occasionally learn to sing both words and music 
of popular ballads ; but, like children, they vary some 
in " mental activity," though during my study of the 
subject of parrot training for the past fifteen years, I 
can truly say that the teachers' abilities vary much 
more than the pupils', to the latters' great disadvantage. 
Parrots learn more readily in the three hours next fol- 
lowing sunrise, or the three hours before sunset, and 
should be taught verbally just as one would teach a 
child, line upon hne, precept upon precept. I have 
known many children give from six months to a year 
to long division, and not understand it very well then ; 
and it may take the brightest parrot that time, or even 
longer, to commit, " The Lord is my Shepherd," etc., 
*' Mary had a little lamb," or a list of oaths varied 



68 



THE GRAY PARROT. 



enough to please alike the Quaker, the gamin, and 
the rector. In teaching, speak in clear, ringing tones, 
pitched on rather a high key. Babies learn to talk 
some in from twelve to eighteen months ; parrots 
learn to talk some in from four to twelve months. I 
have known a gray to be taught for twelve months 
and not utter a word ; then one morning he said, . 
^' Hurrah ! " and in six months more could speak fifty 
or sixty words with elegant accents, and whistle two > 
songs. If we ask how talented a speaking bird may ' 
become, the answer presents many difficulties. . 
Brehm, a great authority on birds in Germany, gives ; 
an account of a gray parrot, which talked in three :( 
languages as clearly as a human being, and at the:| 
same time often caught up forms of speech which hadl! 
never been repeated to it, and which it then applied Ij 
suitably to the *astonishment of all. He also gives ; 
this example of its sharpness. A fat major, whom it: 
knew well, one day paid a visit to teach it tricks.. 
" Get up on the stick, Polly ; up on the stick ! " com-- 
manded the bold warrior. The parrot was decidedly • 
annoyed. Then suddenly it laughed loudly and said, , 
'' Up with you on the stick, major ! " Brehm describes 
this as a witticism of the bird's, and adds, " I cannot; 
relate all this parrot said and did : it was half human." 
" I had to wait," says one owner, " fully eight months- 
before my gray pronounced one word ; but then I was 
richly rewarded, for it learned something new almost' 
every day, and now, after four years, there is scarcely 
any expression in the daily conversation of the family 
which it has not learned to repeat; and how well it 



CAGE OR STAND. 



69 



knows how to apply the words ! It commands the 
cats and the dogs, whistUng to one, and coaxing or 
crying to the other. If the black- cap is heard, it calls 
at once, ' Just wait, you black-cap ! ' If the blackbird 
whistles, it exclaims, ' Be quiet ! ' It distinguishes 
between the canary's song and that of the red bird 
and thrush, speaking to each as it hears the song of 
each." 

If proper methods of instruction are followed, there 
is no imaginary fixed line in intellectual progress 
beyond which a parrot of ordinary ability may not go. 

In teaching or training a parrot, let the bird remain 
for two weeks after purchase, unnoticed, further than 
proper care is concerned ; it will then be less shy, and, 
finding no harm is intended, will incline to become 
friendly. It is better not to use any forcible means 
for training, but always be gentle, and avail yourself 
of some knack, according to the bird's inclinations. 
Take away the drinking-water or coffee for some hours, 
then hold it out to the bird, and offer also some tidbit, 
of which the bird is fond, and thus the bird will learn 
to take food from the hand, and will presently volun- 
tarily come on the finger, allow its head to be 
scratched, and soon permit you to caress and handle 
it at will. Many trainers feed the bird bread or fruit 
from the mouth ; this as a reward for tameness or 
speaking is a great incentive to progress, and birds 
form warm attachments for any one who thus feeds 
them. 

Cage or Stand. — This parrot should have a cage 
fourteen or fifteen inches in diameter, or fifteen to 



^O FOOD. 

twenty-four inches long ; but larger ones can be used, 
or a stand of the usual style. Generally, parrots do 
not talk as well if allowed about a room, and are apt \ 
to find something to eat which is injurious. 
' Food. — The food now very generally given to all 
parrots over four months old, consists of a mixture of 
equal parts of unhuUed rice, cracked corn, hemp, and 
sunflower seeds ; but the effects of all food should be 
watched, and any one of the above which seems to 
disagree with the bird must of course be withheld. 
Probably ninety-nine parrots in every one hundred 
thrive on the above mixture. Give daily, if eaten, a 
piece of cuttle-bone the size of a walnut. Half a dozen 
peanuts may be given occasionally, but no other nuts, 
as they are too rich. Never give any meat, bones, or 
greasy food of any kind, as they cause diseases, and 
ruin the plumage. Dainties from the table are usually 
indigestible and harmful. Fruits, such as apples, 
oranges, bananas, cherries, can be given, but only those 
proper for your special bird should be allowed in 
limited quantity. A vegetable red-pepper pod can be 
given every week or so, and is particularly desirable 
during the moulting season. A piece of raw onion, 
half the size of an egg, acts as a good tonic. Cracker, 
or stale but good bread, soaked in "coffee, is good 
daily ; but some gray parrots will not take coffee, or it 
may make them nervous, in which case water should 
be used. Water causes some to have diarrhoea, and 
coffee, in that case, is the better drink. Silver gravel 
in abundance should be given fresh daily for eating 
and batiiing. The cage or stand should be cleansed 



THE GRAY PARROT. 



71 



with water, or soap and water, every third day, and 
oftener if necessary. Bathing in sand is usual, in 
water is unusual, for parrots ; but water baths should 
be given according to the health and needs of the 
bird, one to three times a week, through the year. Use 
from a pint to a quart of tepid water, in which a tea- 
spoonful of borax has been dissolved, spraying the 
bird with the coarse atomizer which holds a half-pint. 
If a teaspoonful of wine is afterwards thrown on with 
a small atomizer, the plumage will become glossy and 
beautiful. 

The grays, like most of the larger parrots, sometimes 
live from fifty to seventy-five, and even one hundred 
years. 

TABLE OF THE PARROT FAMILY. 







^ 


bC 












9 


H 


.E 




. 








c 

V 


2Z 


2S 


.E 


'Bgi 


ifl 






.£P 


>'Z 


>>^ 




^g 


V 






1 


5S 




IE 


Si 


H 




p/ay 


10 


10 


5 


10 


8 


9 


52 


.Mexican . 








10 


n 


TO 


c 


8 


9 


51 


Carthagena 






ID 


8 




8 


8 


9 


52 


Single H'd 








7 


6 


6 


3 


7 


7 


30 


Amazon . 








8 


8 


5 


3 


8 


8 


40 


Blue-front 








6 


5 


5 




5 


6 


27 


ALiracaibo 








6 




5 


_ 


4 


8 


28 


Cuban . . 








6 


6 


6 


_ 


6 


. 9 


33 


Dwarf. . 








6 


6 


- 


4 


4 


10 


30 


Macaw . 








7 


5 


5 


_ 


10 


6 


33 


Cockatoo . 








6 


4 




- 


7 


8 


25 



In the above comparative table, 10 is the highest 
figure under each heading, and the total number of 
points is 60. 





^- ^b^^^a. ^ 



'gm ^W 



A GREEN PARROT. 

There are many varieties of the green parrots, but 
this article will treat only of those usually caged in 
Apierica. 

The Double Yellow Head of Mexico is the 
operatic star of the parrot family ; his natural gift of 
song is great, and his voice is clear, sweet, and reso- 
nant. There are marvellous stories of the repei'toire 
winch some of these Mexicans are capable of render- 
ing. I have owned birds of this variety, which could 
sing the words and music of two, three, and four 
songs, and give each with its best points, well 
phrased, and in a style that would always "■ take the 
house." The Mexican is of a beautiful green through- 
out the body, with a pale orange forehead, and scarlet 
and blue feathers in wings and tail ; his feet are 
strong and white ; his beak is white ; his tongue 
72 



A GREEN PARROT. «-, 

may be white, black, or mottled. His length is from 
fourteen to sixteen inches, being a somewhat longer 
and thicker bird than the gray parrot. As the birds 
get older, the pale orange color of the forehead 
deepens, and extends back over the head. These 
birds are not only great singers, but free talkers as 
well, learning many words when taught for three 
months or so, and are most amusing at times by theii 
manner of mingling songs and speeches. 

The grays, and these Mexicans, are the most enjoy- 
able birds to own, because most intelligent and teach- 
able. 

Cage, food, and care, are the same for the Mexican, 
as for the gray. 

The Carthagena Parrot is from thirteen to fifteen 
inches long, being about the size of the Mexican, and 
has all green plumage, except on the back of the neck, 
a pale orange marking about the size of a silver half- 
dollar ; and in the wings and tail feathers red and 
blue markings. This bird becomes quite a singer, 
whistles some, and talks very well ; he is generally 
next to the Mexican, and his food and care are the 
same as that bird's. 

The Single Yellow Head is smaller than the 
Double Yellow Head, being from eleven to thirteen 
inches long, but has the same colors and markings as 
that bird, except the beak is dark, instead of flesh 
color, and the narrow pale-orange stripe on the fore- 
head does not extend as the bird grows older. This 
bird makes a fair talker, learning easily, but not so 
many sentences as those named above. His food 
and care is the same. 



^4 DISEASES. 

The Amazon Parrot is a native of the upper por- 
tion of South America ; he is not quite as large as the 
Mexican ; his hght-green body, and briUiant head- 
dress of bkie and yellow, throat of orange tinged with 
red, scarlet-tipped wings and parti-colored tail, make 
him very attractive. He is an apt scholar, and easily 
learns to talk and ^ing. Food as above. 

The Blue Front Parrot is twelve or thirteen 
inches long, with plain green body and blue forehead, 
and slight red and blue markings in the wings. Fie 
becomes a fair talker. His food is same as above. 

The Maracaibo Parrot is ten or eleven inches 
long, with green body, forehead well marked with 
yellow, and wings having some blue, yellow, and red 
markings. He looks like a small edition of the Mexi- 
can, and sometimes makes an excellent talker. His 
food is the same as above. 

The Cuban Parrot is ten to twelve inches long, 
with green body, white forehead, scarlet throat, and 
scarlet and blue wings. These are usually imported 
when three months old, so they are tame, and very 
teachable, becoming quite good English scholars. The 
food is the same as above. 

Diseases. — If parrots are properly fed, and their 
cages or stands kept clean, they remain in good health 
during the long life of from fifty to one hundred years. 
The principal diseases afflicting birds not properly 
cared for are as below. I have written these prescrip- 
tions without seeing your particular patient. Use your 
judgment about increasing or diminishing the number 
and quantity of the doses. 



COLD AND INDIGESTION. y^ 

Cold. — Keep the bird in a very warm place, and 
give a few bird peppers ; into a glass of water put ten 
drops of aconite, and every hour pour a teaspoonful 
down the bird's throat. Second remedy : Clean the 
bird's nostrils with a feather dipped in salt water, and 
then moisten them with the oil of almonds. Rub the 
beak and throat externally with a solution of chlorate 
of kali one part, and twenty parts of hot water; let 
the bird inhale tar vapor, putting the tar in a bottle, 
one part of tar to twenty-five parts of hot water. 

Indigestion. — Give a plain, light diet of unhulled 
rice, and a few sunflower seeds ; but little green food or 
fruit, some salt, and tepid drinking water, with, a tea- 
spoonful of lime water in it ; a teaspoonful of warm 
Bordeaux wine can be poured down the bird's throat. 

Constipation. — Use warm castor-oil and olive-oil 
in equal parts, dropping it into the vent or passage 
from the head of a pin ; after several repetitions, large 
masses of excrement pass away; give a dose of ten 
drops of castor-oil, with half a teaspoonful of honey, 
once or twice a day. Feed hemp and sunflower seeds 
in equal parts. 

DiARRHCEA. — Keep the bird in a warm place, feed 
unhulled rice, and give a half cracker soaked in brandy, 
on which sprinkle red pepper. In severe cases, put 
five drops of paregoric into a teaspoonful of boiled 
milk, and give this full dose every three hours. 

Bloody Diarrhcea. — Give four drops of laudanum 
in a teaspoonful of boiled milk every three hours. 
Give no fruit or green stuff, and do not allow the bird 
to drink water, unless it has had some tincture of iron 
put into it. 



76 



DYSENTERY AND VOMITING. 



Dysentery. — Treat as for diarrhoea ; and give also 
one-half to one teaspoonful of castor-oil, with ten 
drops of honey. The sticky feathers under the tail 
should be washed with warm water. 

Vomiting, when caused only by fright, or anxiety, 
or overeating, has but litde significance ; but when 
arising from inflammation of the stomach, and accom- 
panied by weakness, shivering, loss of appetite, or 
bloody discharges, should be treated as follows : Apply 
warm or nearly hot poultices of bread or flaxseed to ,, 
the belly ; also apply sand as warm as is pleasant to •' 
the hand. Give teaspoonful doses of a solution of 
tannin, two parts to seventy-five or one liundred parts ,] 
of warm water two or three times a day. 

Pulling the Feathers. — This is caused usually by 
improper food, too much hemp-seed, meat, or bones, 
and too close confinement. Feed sunflower seeds and 
unhulled rice ; keep plenty of gravel in the cage, and j 
a constant supply of wood for the bird to gnaw. ■ 
Amuse the bird by giving spools and a '' robust " china 
doll to play with. Put a half-teaspoonful of glycerine 
to a teacupful of tepid water, and spray the bird 
thoroughly six to ten times daily, using the full dose 
each time. Smear the plumage with the tincture of 
bitter aloes. Put the bird into new surroundings to 
occupy his attention. Some keepers have good results 
by reducing the quantity of food by degrees, till the 
bird gets only a third of its usual allowance ; then it 
becomes weakened, its blood being reduced, and leaves 
off the habit. For further information on diseases 
and treatment, consult Holden's " Canaries and Cage 
Birds." 




THE AUSTRALIAN PAROQUET. 



Paroquet is the name generally given to the 
smaller kinds of parrots, from which birds the species 
placed under this head do not otherwise differ than 
in size : the term is somewhat arbitrarily applied, so 
that you will frequently have the same bird called at 
one time a parrot, at another a paroquet, as might 
be expected, there being no exact boundary line to 
divide the larger from the lesser kinds. 

7 n 



78 THE AUSTRALIAN PAROQUET. 

The Australian Paroquet, a very beautiful and 
eccentric bird, has but recently been introduced into 
this country ; yet he possesses so many desirable 
qualifications that he has at once become a well- 
known member of the " bird family." This bird is 
a native of the island from whence the name is 
derived ; and in a wild state leads a retired and 
sequestered life, sometimes alone, and again in 
pairs. During mating season they are found in 
pairs, and in immense numbers, the male and female 
each singing to the other incessantly. As they are 
inhabitants of the ground, where they build their 
nests, they are rarely found in trees. Their plumage 
is a beautiful shade of green, with a few brownish or 
black feathers upon the back, and the feathers of 
the head a bright lemon color ; which, added to the 
bright blue spots around the head and neck, make 
them a beautiful and attractive bird. They easily 
become domesticated to cage-life, and are capable 
of being taught many amusing tricks. They are 
hardy birds, and easily endure the cold winters of 
the north, the author once having placed a pair 
where water froze to the depth of an inch, and this, 
too, without any perceptible injury to the birds. 
They should be fed wholly upon canary-seed, and 
allowed frequent baths. With this treatment they 
will continue in perfect health for many years. 




THE TROOPIAL. 

The South American Troopial has a beautiful 
rich plumage, and looks very much like our Ameri- 
can golden robin, or what is known as the Baltimore 
oriole ; the chief difference being that he is much 
larger in size, with the orange of the body more of a 
yellow. Few, if any, birds have a natural song at 
once so sweet and powerful as this ; and none have 
a nicer ear and a more retentive memory. Take a 
young male, and instruct him carefully by means of 
a flageolet or flute, and he will not only repeat the 
air played, but imitate the very tones of the instru- 

79 



So THE TROOPIAL. 

ment with astonishing fidehty. We have heard! 
troopials thus instructed whose strain seemed to us- 
the very perfection of melody, such as only a skilful: 
performer could produce ; and such a one as this is 
really a valuable bird. Give us the troopial with; 
the loud sweet song morning and evening, the vespery 
and matin chants, and his beautiful plumes seeming: 
veritable sunbeams- of the tropics, diffusing light andl 
warmth around. 

They are extremely active, and very graceful ini 
their movements, and require a cage the same size 
that a mocking-bird is usually confined in. Im 
their wild state their food consists of insects andl 
berries; caged, they require the same food andl 
treatment as the mocking-bird. They may also be.' 
brought up without much difficulty upon white bread! 
soaked in milk, and raw lean meat scraped fine, andl 
mixed with it. There are few wild birds, which,, 
when confined, become so thoroughly domesticated! 
as the troopial. They can be taught with little ^ 
trouble to accept food from the hand, to fly to andl 
perch upon the one who regularly attends to their 
daily requirements ; while their extreme docility is a 
fact proven beyond a doubt. 





THE BRAZILIAN CARDINAL. 

The Brazilian Cardinal is one of the beautiful 
whistling birds of the tropics, and is justly admired 
as a cage-bird. The back is dark gray, the quill- 
feathers of the wings are of a darker shade of the 
same color, and the tail is nearly black ; the head, 
crest, cheeks, and throat are bright red of an orange 
hue, deepest on the chest, where it ends in a point ; 
the lower part of the body is grayish white, and the 
feet and legs are black ; the strong beak is dusky 
gray ; the crest is pointed like that of the Virginia 
nightingale, and is raised and depressed at pleasure. 
His brilliant scarlet head forms a beautiful contrast 
with the snowy white of his body. In addition to 
his beautiful plumage, he is also gifted with powers 
of song. If fed upon unhulled rice and canary-seed, 
and given plenty of bathing water, he will live many 
years in confinement. 

7* 8i 




THE JAVA SPARROW. 



The Java Sparrow takes his name from the Java 
Islands, where they abound in immense numbers. 
Their chief recommendation is the great neatness 
and beauty of phmiage ; their glossy black head, with 
clear white cheeks, and delicate rose-colored bill, 
that looks like a piece of wax-work, and their light- 
slate or almost ashen-gray body, forming one of the 
richest combinations of colors ; the plumage b'eing 
so neat and smooth that the feathers all seem to fit 
into each other ; and all appear covered with bloom 
82 



THE JAVA SPARROW. 8;^ 

like that upon plums. They are very affectionate 
birds, and happy in confinement; and occasionally 
one is seen that can in reality be called a bird of 
song. They can be taught a variety of amusing 
tricks ; and, perhaps more than any other caged bird, 
will perform their tricks at command, with the seem- 
ing fear of a child. The pairs are much attached to 
each other, and are continually dressing each other's 
feathers. They are generally fed upon canary and 
millet seed, but in a wild state live chiefly on nee. 
At a bird exhibition at Crystal Palace, London, a 
few years since, a pair of Java sparrows were exhib- 
ited, entirely white, with the black head and throat 
and rose-colored beak of the gray Java sparrow, and 
with the plumage equally soft and downy ■ and I was 
told that they were most beautiful birds. 





THE MOCKING BIRD. 



The American Mocking-Bird. — This unrivalled 
songster, though he may not possess the melodious 
sweetness of the nightingale and lark, or the beau- 
tiful pipe of the blackbird, yet in himself he unites 
all the excellences to a greater extent than any 
other living bird. Who, on passing through the 
streets of any large city on a bright night in June, 
has not heard the shrill scream of the eagle, the 
mourning note of the turtle-dove, the delicate 
warble of the blue-bird, the cackling of the domes- 
tic hen, followed by the quarrelling of a dozen or 
more grimalkins^ each seeming to vie with the other 
as to the quantity of noise ; then the cry of the 
84 



MOCKING-BIRD FOOD. 85 

katydid, the mellow whistle of the cardinal, the 
grunt of tbe maternal porker searching for her 
juveniles, the creaking of some rusty swing-sign- 
board, the pipe of the canary, and the cry of some 
lost puppy wailing in the midnight air, and each 
succeeding the other with such rapidity, that the 
listener wonders if such a variety can come from 
so small an object. Ail this the mocking-bird is 
capable of. The mocking-bird is a general favorite, 
and deserves to be attentively cared for. He is 
particular, and should be fed and watered at the 
same time every day. His cage should be large, and 
kept very clean, with plenty of gravel. His food 
should be 

Our Prepared Food. — It is for mockino-birds 
and all long-bill or soft-bill birds ; has been used for 
a great many years, and is pronounced best. It is 
in bottles all ready for use ; in the boxes it requires 
the addition of equal quantity of grated raw car- 
rot. The box-food lasts longer, and so is cheaper. 
A good way is to feed the two kinds alternately. A 
few ant's eggs, soaked and mixed with the food, is 
very beneficial. They can be had of us. A little 
sweet-apple grated up with the food gives it a fine 
flavor, and often restores tlie appetite when it is poor 
during moulting, and hot weather. During moult- 
ing, add ants' eggs and meal-worms to food, daily. 

A Supply of Insects should be gathered during 
the proper season, such as flies, grasshoppers, spi- 
ders, &c., and put loosely in a paper bag, and hung 
up to dry ; and, when used in winter, they should 



S6 MOCKING-BIRD FOOD. 

have boiling water poured over them, wh ch willl 
soften them, and make them as palatable as if they, 
were still alive. A grasshopper thus prepared is ai 
Thanksgiving dinner to your bird. Zante currants, 
the same as used for cake, washed clean, soaked 1 
over night, and wiped dry, also make a dainty i 
morsel. 

Meal-Worms give a bird a great deal of life, and,, 
being the richest of food, should only be givem 
occasionally, say six to ten worms in a month. Everyi 
owner of a soft-bill bird should raise a stock of! 
meal-worms. The process is very simple, and con- 
sists in first taking an old box or jar, and placing:: 
therein a quantity of bran or meal, — in fact, any fari- 
naceous meal, — a few biscuit or part of a loaf of 
bread, a few pieces of leather from an old, worn-outt 
boot or shoe, and some woollen rags ; place thereim 
a few meal-worms, — say fifty, — and then cover thet 
opening tightly with a thick cloth. If this cloth iss 
moistened with water occasionally, they will breed: 
faster j and, if not disturbed, at the expiration of fromr 
four to six months, you will have thousands. ' 

MocKiNG-BiRDS HAVE DISEASES. — Should your^ 
bird's feathers stand loosely all over, and he still 
seem healthful, give him cooling food only. Should 
your bird be dumpish and stupid, a few spiders will 
usually cure him. Should he refuse to eat, examine 
his tongue, and you probably will find on it a horny 
scale: this must be removed with great care, as, ifi 
allowed to remain, your bird will surely die. Td 
remove this scale, hold the bird on his back firmly; 



MOCKING-BIRD DISEASES. 87 

with one hand, and, with the finger-nail of the other 
hand, gently peel this scale from the tongue. Care- 
fully watch the bird's droppings, and immediately 
apply the cure for illness. 

DiARRHCEA IS CURED by a very rusty nail placed 
in his drinking-cup, and the reverse by insect food, 
01 water with a few ants' eggs soaked in it. Blind- 
ness is not to be cured ; and the bird thus attacked 
will shortly die, its spirit being broken by the illness. 

During the month of May, sometimes earlier, all 
birds have what is called the 

Mating Fever. — They grow melancholy, allow 
their feathers to grow rough, cease to " plume 
themselves " before retiring, waste away, and die. 
All lovers of birds must have observed that a bird 
never goes to sleep without arranging, just before 
dark, every feather. The uniformity and tedious 
ness of a bird's life, confined in a cage, that was 
not bred in one, is the cause of this mating-fever. 
They have an ungratified sensual desire. In many 
instances they forget their inclination for freedom 
and a mate, by simply changing the cage, and hang- 
ing near a window, where their time will be taken 
up in watching new surroundings. 

Mocking-Btrd Lice are a great annoyance to n 
bird, and should be gotten rid of. This is besi 
done by placing the bird in another perfectly clean 
cage ; then steep some fine-cut chewing tobacco in 
water, and, with a very weak solution, wash the bird 
very thoroughly, particularly under the wings j then 
place a white cloth or towel on top of the cage. 



88 BIRD-LICE AND IMPROPER FOOD. 

and they will crawl up, and in a few days you will 
be rid of them. Clean your cage very thoroughly 
before you replace your bird therein ; and, with 
proper attention to cleanliness, you will not again 
be troubled with them. 

Experience has taught us that nine-tenths of tht 
ailments of birds are caused by improper feeding. 
Bits of sugar, candy, daily green food, grapes, meat 
from the table, — all are bad for any bird. Birds need 
plain food, regularly given. Seed-birds require seed 
free from dust; other birds, food mixed daily in 
clean vessels. A bath should be given the mocking- 
bird daily ; and the vessel should be removed from the 
cage when the bird has bathed. You can soon 
teach any bird to bathe directly when you give him 
his bath, if you give it to him at the same hour each 
day. If irregular yourself, the bird will contract the 
same habit. 

These remarks on the mocking-bird will also apply 
to the thrush, starling, lark, nightingale, robin, black- 
cap, and, in fact, all the family of soft-bill birds. 
In doctoring your sick bird, ascertain as nearly as 
possible what his complaint is, and apply the rem- 
edy ; if it does not succeed, try another. Birds have 
been known to be at the point of death with cos- 
tiveness, when a small spider has been forced down 
their throats, and a large knitting-needle, dipped 
mto oil, inserted into the passage as an injection, 
and the bird caused to fly a few feet, when imme 
diate relief followed, and in a few hours the bird 
was again in song. 




THE GROSBEAK. 

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, though a very 
elegant bird, is but little known ; yet few of our 
domestic birds much surpass him in sweetness of 
song, or beauty of plumage. He sings by night as 
well as by day, and the notes are very clear and mel- 
low. His great rarity accounts for the fact that he 
is so seldom seen caged ; yet no bird can be more 
highly prized ; the bright carmine breast, and deep 
black and snowy white body, forming such a rich 
contrast. Caged, he becomes very tame in a short 
space of time, and, being well contented in confine- 
ment, lives many years. He usually keeps in the 
best of health if fed upon nothing but canary-seed. 
If hemp or unhulled rice (unless necessary) is fed, 
he will eat until it is with difficulty that he can move 
from the bottom of the cage. 

89 




THE VIRGINIA NIGHTINGALE. 

"Give me but 
Something whereunto I may bind my heart, 
Something to love, to rest upon, to clasp 
Affection's tendrils round." 

Mrs. Henians. 



The Virginia Nightingale, sometimes called the 
Virginia red-bird, sometimes the cardinal, is a native 
of the Southern States, and one of the handsomest 
birds of the New World. His color is of a brilliant 
red, with the exception of the throat and the part 
round the beak, which are black. The head is orna- 
mented with a tuft, which he is capable of raising, 
giving a very commanding appearance. Together 
90 



t 



VIRGINIA NIOHTTNCxALE. 9 1 



with his beautiful plumage, this bird is gifted with a 
very sweet, pleasing song, or rather whistle, which 
sounds almost like the playing of a flageolet, being 
very pleasant to the ear. He is very hardy, and 
easily taken care of. He is also very tender-hearted, 
and kind in feeding young birds even of a different 
species, when placed in the same cage. One belong- 
ing to an old woman at Washington earned for his 
mistress a large sum of money by rearing a number 
of young birds of other species placed under his 
charge. He should be fed with a mixture of canary 
and hemp seed, and rough (unhulled) rice, to which 
may be added a little fresh green food, or a piece of 
apple occasionally. When properly treated, this 
bird often attains the age of fifteen years ; though he 
will fade away from the beautiful scarlet to a delicate 
shade of pink. A lady who has had a pet Virginia 
nightingale for some years says he is still in the 
highest health and beauty; she feeds him upon 
canary-seed, giving him a few hemp-seeds, four or 
five meal-worms, or spiders, grubs, or caterpillars 
every day. He is fond of Spanish nuts, almonds, 
walnuts, and Indian corn, but cannot crack the nuts. 
A piece of salt and a lump of chalk are always kept 
in his cage, and she gives him opportunity for a daily 
bath. The salt causes the bird to retain his bril- 
liancy, and the chalk keeps him regular. 




T'^iJi' '''\\ 



THE BOBOLINK. 

The Bobolink received his name from a peculiar 
song of his own, in which he expresses very dis- 
tinctly the words " bob-o-link " several times in suc- 
cession. They are found all over the United States 
in the summer season, in great numbers, but migrate 
southerly when cold weather approaches. Their 
song is a confused, merry jingle of notes, of about 
the quality of the canary, but without any method 
whatever. They are easily domesticated to cage-life, 
and, when fed on nothing but canary-seed (no hemp), 
will sing about eight months of the year. They are 
hardy, and will live many years. The author owned 
one that was sent to the World's Fair in 185 1, and, 
after taking the first prize in Europe, came safely 
back to America. 



92 





-\"*' 



I 



THE AMERICAN LINNET. 

The Red Linnet, a beautiful singing, or we might 
say whistling bird, is one that should be as univer- 
sally kept as the canary. His song is equally as 
sweet ; and he will sing for ten months of the year, 
or the whole season, excepting during the time of 
moulting. The song consists of a variety of low, 
sweet-sounding notes, which are never harsh to the 
ear ; and if kept near other birds, the power of imi- 
tation being very good, he will soon add many beauti- 
ful notes to the already sweet song. In confinement 
he becomes very tame, and, if fed sparingly, will live 
a number of years. He should be fed exclusively on 
rape and canary seed, and, at times, a short allowance 
of that. If hemp-seed is fed, very soon he has a 
giddiness followed by epilepsy, and shortly after by 
death. He is fond of bathing, of two kinds ; first, 
like the sky-lark, in plenty of gravel, and second, in 
water ; and a bath must be given daily. 

93 




THE AMERICAN YELLOW-BIRD. 

" Blooming trees, and bubbling springs ! 
Bless me, how that wild-bird sings ! " 

The American Yellow-Bird, or what in reality 
is the American goldfinch, is a beautiful lemon- 
colored bird with a black cap and black and white 
wings, and has always been a favorite with every- 
body. He is a pretty thing to look at, and has many 
graceful attitudes when jumping about in a cage ; or, 
as we once heard a countr3avoman say, who was a 
great lover of birds, " He has such a many winning 
ways with him, that one can't help liking him, if 
even we try." Then to say nothing of his singing, 
although that is very pleasant to listen to, — a little 
deficient in variety perhaps, not so quick in picking 
up tunes as a few other birds, — still he can do no 
end of things which better singers cannot do ; and, 
in a wild state, his song has a brisk, cheerful, heart- 
stirring ring. Thousands are caught every season 
by means of trap-cages, using almost any bird for a 
decoy. If fed upon maw, millet, and a little canary- 
seed (the two latter should be soaked a little), and 
otherwise treated as a canary, he has been known to 
live ten years in confinement. 




THE NONPAREIL. 

A merry welcome to thee, glittering bird ! 

Lover of summer flowers and sunny things ! 
A night hath passed since my young buds have heard 

The music of thy rainbow-colored wings, — 
Wings, that flash sparkles out where'er they quiver, 
Like sudden sunlight rushing o'er a river." 



The Nonpareil is what his name indicates, — 
" without an equal ; " being one of the most beautiful 
cage-birds, and needs only to be seen to be admired*. 
He is called by many authors the " painted finch " 
or " painted bunting," and is also spoken of by 
Buffon as "the pope," on account of his beautiful 
violet hood. I have a beautiful specimen of the 
bird, which at the present moment has a violet head 



96 THE NONPAREIL. 

and neck, a red circle round the eyes, the iris brown, 
the beak and feet brown, the upper part of the back 
yellowish-green, the lower part of the back, and the 
throat, chest, and whole under part of the body, as 
well as the upper tail-coverts, of a bright red ; the 
wing-coverts are green, the quills reddish-brown 
tinged with green; the tail is reddish-brown. He is 
about the size of the English robin, and very much 
resembles that bird in his attitudes and character- 
istics ; and his song, though not powerful, is very 
agreeable. He is fed upon canary and millet seed, 
and is exceedingly fond of flies and spiders, which he 
ought to have to keep him in health. If I offer him 
one, he darts across the cage to seize it, and takes it 
from my hand fearlessly ; and, when allowed to fly 
about the room, will catch flies for himself, either 
pouncing upon them in the window, or taking them 
on the wing in the course of a rapid dash across the 
room. He is a sociable bird, and very inquisitive, 
hopping about on the table, and examining every- 
thing he sees ; and, when tired of his sudden flights 
about the room, will go to a vase of flowers placed 
before a mirror, and warble away to his image re- 
flected in the glass. This bird is very fond of bath- 
ing, and should therefore be daily provided with a 
bath ; but, when allowed to fly about a room, care 
must be taken not to leave a pitcher, or any large 
vessel with water, within his reach, as he is very apt 
lo attempt to bathe, and might get drowned. 




THE JAPANESE ROBIN. 

The Japanese Robin. Perhaps, not the least 
among the beauties and pleasures which our present 
commercial relations with the empire of Japan 
afford, are the gorgeous plumage, elegant songsters, 
so quickly introducing themselves, and so completely 
charming us. The Japanese have reduced the 
breeding of birds to a science ; so that one may 
take any color or even shade to a bird-breeder, and 
in a short space he will show you a fledgling of 
just the desired hue. But the natural colors of 
the robin far surpass those which can be obtained 
by domestic breeding in cages. " The head of the 
robin is a bronze-green ; beak yellow ; body the color 
of a mourning dove ; eyes black, with a circlet of 
white ; throat ecru tint of yellow, shading on the 
breast into orange ; wing-feathers black, with parti- 
colored stripes of gold and white ; and tail-feathers 
glossy black, barred with white so clear, that the 
bird looks as if he had just been out in an April 



98 THE JAPANESE ROBIN, 

flurry of snow." For this description of colors we 
are indebted to Mrs. Dr. G. Kimball of Lowell, 
Mass. 

In size, the bird is similar to a bulfinch ; has an 
eye large, mild, and genial, and every movement is 
graceful and sprightly. In such a Venus of shape 
and beauty, we usually expect little or no music ; 
but listen ! he utters a low prelude. You whistle a 
responsive call, which he never fails to answer ; and 
as the sun now rises, and its rays gleam on his square, 
golden palace, his full, strong melody surprises you. 
On, on he sings. Now you are delighted ; then rap- 
ture follows delight, as trill and warble and merry 
run follow in quick succession. 

His voice compasses all the notes and semi-tones 
contained between the low contralto and high tenor. 
Every day he delights with new and surprising com- 
binations, as well as notes totally different from any 
before uttered. Some day from the porch he hears 
a wild bird's tender song or delicate trill, and 
forthwith makes it his own, and yours too in pay- 
ment for a little care and petting. He whistles 
every month in the year. 

Though not reared in a cage, he is tame and 
teachable, never quarrels nor complains, eats with 
keen relish the prepared bird-food, and occasionally 
wants a few meal-worms or ant's eggs. Being very 
hardy he has few diseases. Carrot grated and 
mixed with his food once or twice a week, keeps him 
in good health and song throughout the year. Hi^ 
c:\ge should be square, about medium size. 





DIAMOND SPARROW. CUT-THROAT SPARROW 



"The birds around me hopped and played : 
Their thoughts I cannot measure ; — 
But the least motion which they made, 
It seemed a thrill of pleasure." 

Wordsworth. 

Diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires are beautiful 
gems ; but the living gems, the beautiful little crea- 
tures known as finches, far outshine them. I can 
never forget the day that I first saw these darlings. 
America is the home of the humming bird and lovely 
nonpareil ; Europe sends us her loved songsters : but 
to Africa, India, Asia, Australia, and Japan are we 
indebted for the dear, sweet, lovely little creatures, 
marvels of beauty that they are, known under the 
name, somewhat arbitrarily applied, of African 
finches, and Japanese nuns. 

99 



AFRICAN FINCHES. 



" Caged at my window the little birds sing, 
Wild with delight at the coming of spring." 



Among the various colors we have the ashen gray, 
turquoise blue, crimson, ruby, emerald green, mal- 
tese, the rich reddish brown, the wine color, the 
cinnamon and white, invisible green, and black and 
white, the orange and slate, the delicate fawn ; in 
fact, colors of every conceivable hue, many of them 
shaded with a darker color of the same, giving the 
effect to the plumage of scallop shells, laid one over 
the other. Added to these you have the little white 
Chinese finch, the coal black Cuba finch, the coral 
red finch ; and among them all you have the neutral 
tints of every color. 

" To charm the sense, and soothe the pensive heart, 
And bid sweet dreams and gentlest fancies start." 

These finches are thoroughly happy in each 
other's society, and sit all together in a row, packed 
as closely as possible, caressing and pluming each 
other. If you place a small box or nest in the cage, 
and supply them with cotton-batting, thread, or 
horse-hair, they will make a charming little nest, 
which, if the weather be cool, several will occupy, 
" cuddling " closely together, often sleeping for 
hours. 

The pleasure to be derived from watching the 
little creatures is certainly very great. Most of 
them are the sweetest songsters ] and it seems at 



AFRICAN FINCHES. lOI 

times, as if there certainly was a singing school, and 
each was striving to see how long he could sing, and 
how great a variety of notes he could utter. 

Those who are confined to the house can profit- 
ably spend days and weeks in familiarizing them- 
selves with this, the most interesting branch of 
natural history. And the price has now become 
so reasonable that all who have the taste — and 
who has not ? — can have it gratified. A ten-dollar 
bill will purchase a brass cage, and four or five small 
birds or finches. Before America was blessed with an 
assortment of these pets, our own loved poet, Bryant, 
wrote, — 



And thou wert still a hope, a love ; 
Still longed for, never seen." 



During the past five years there has been a per- 
fect revolution in the bird trade ; and Bryant's wish 
has been more than realized, for at any well-kept 
bird store large family cages can be seen, and their 
occupants, — 

" Birds from every clime." 

Among the various finches we will describe such 
ones as are usually first selected. 




ST. HELENA WAXBILL. AVADAVAT. 

" These musicians excel in their wonderful art : 

They have compass of voice, and the gamut by heart." 

The Avadavat. — This little well-known beauty 
comes to us in great numbers. They are natives of 
China, Asia, Africa, and India. Their plumage is 
beautiful ; and, unlike most other birds, they change 
plumage yearly until the third year. At this time, 
the head and under part of the body are a fiery red 
tinged with black, the back brown, tail black, wings 
a reddish brown ; all the feathers are tipped with 
white, giving the bird the appearance of being 
speckled with white spots ; beak red, the upper 
mandible on the top being almost black. 

" A little bird sang on the tree ; 
His song was joyous, glad, and gay." 



The Gray-Blue Finch. — This bird has a song 
that seems a mixture of the canaries' and bobo- 

I02 



THE ORANGE-CHEEK WAXBILL. IO3 

finks', but very much finer than either of these much- 
admired birds. 

" Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight." 

He will mate and rear his young in the aviary, ad- 
hering to the tropical spring month, — November, 
— raising beautiful young birds in our mid-winter. 

The Silver-bill, or Quaker bird, has a pretty 
warbling song, and will often dance upon the perch, 
as if keeping time to his melody. When kept in 
couples, they are very affectionate, and devote the 
greater part of their time to caressing each other. 

** And hear the sound of music sweet, 
From birds among the bowers." 

The Orange - Cheek Waxbill is a beautiful, 
smooth little bird, always as neat as possible, with 
every feather in its place, vermilion beak, gray head, 
neck and throat brown. 

The Zebra, or orange - breast waxbill, is quite 
small, but very pleasing ; and, as he is scarcely 
three inches long, he is considered desirable. 

The Chestnut Finch is another choice bird, and 
one which will speedily become a favorite. The 
whole body is of a rich chestnut-brown, both above 
and below ; the upper and under tail coverts white, 
and the tail black. 

The Magpie Finch is one of the little beauties 
with a bottle-green head, brownish back, white 



I04 JAPANESK NUJNT. 

throat and breast, always neat and trim, and a 
songster. 

*' From perch to perch the magpie hops, 
And chirrups as he flies." 

Nuns, both black and white capped, often called 
African manikins, are a really beautiful bird, their 
white head forming a rich contrast with the choco- 
late brown and black bodies. An aviary is hardly 
complete without one of each. 

Japanese Nuns are a beautiful combination of 
the purest white, intermingled with the much ad- 
mired cinnamon color. These pets, being bred in 
cages, are very tame, of a quiet disposition, and 
sing so merrily that you would think two songs were 
striving for united utterance. 

" There's a concert, a concert of gladness and glee ; 
The programme is rich, and the tickets are free." 

Not less beautiful are the brown and white, and 
yellow and white, charming pets that they are, and 
with which you would not part. 

The Cordon Blue, native of Africa, or, as some 
call this well-known finch, crimson-ear waxbill, is 
one of great beauty. The male has a soft, pleasing 
song, and is usually to be heard cooing, as if for 
his own amusement. This little fellow has a pe- 
culiar habit of singing with a bit of twine, or some- 
thing which he can hold, in his bill. If he can find 
a piece of cotton, or a stalk of any kind, he will 
hop about his cage, and sing to his utmost. 



I 




JAPANESE NUN. CORDON BLUE FINCH. 



Thou hast no sorrow in thy song, 
No winter in thy year." 



The Cut-Throat Sparrow, a native of Africa, 
sometimes called " fascinated finch," is about half 
the size of the canary. He is of a delicate grayish- 
fawn color, spangled with white spots. 

" Come, little bird, and live with me, 
You shall be happy, light, and free." 

The St. Helena Waxbill. — This finch comes to 
us from Africa in great numbers ; and, being com- 
paratively well known, our description will be brief. 
The beak, a bright red resembling sealing-wax, a 
darker shade of same passing through each eye ; 
also a dash of same on under part of the body : the 
prevailing color of the plumage is a grayish-brown, 

105 



Io6 THE DIAMOND SPARRO^V. 

the wings and tail being a shade darker ; all the 
feathers have transverse blackish wavy lines all over 
them, giving them a very soft and silken appear- 
aiice. 

The Diamond Sparrow, or " spotted-sided finch," 
a native of Australia, is a short, stout bird, some- 
what larger than the St. Helena waxbill. The un- 
der part of the body is white, and the sides under 
the wings quite black, with oblong white spots. 
They have the utmost desire to catch flies ; and, if 
allowed the liberty of a room, will rush to the win- 
dow, and remain by the hour catching them. They 
can be made remarkably tame, and can be trusted 
without their cage. 

The Fire Finch bears a strong resemblance to 
the avadavat at certain seasons of the year. He 
is somewhat larger, but has little song, being kept 
particularly for beauty and cheerful disposition. 

The Saffron Finch is in many respects similar 
to the canary, though not quite as large. In point 
of color, however, the finch is more desirable, as 
the shades are of brighter tints. 

" The tropic sunshine from his golden wings." 

The above comprise a variety of the family of 
fiuches. There are, however, very many others, 
which can be obtained at any well-kept bird store. 

They should be fed upon millet-seed, and given a 
bath daily ; care should be taken that they are kept 
II- a warm room, and, if possible, in the warm rays 



FINCHES, THEIR CARE. 107 

of the sun. Cayenne pepper, sprinkled on the sand 
in the bottom of the cage twice a week, will be 
found beneficial. They are fond of the sun, and 
delight to bask in its warmth. Their ailments are 
very few, and these few are about the same as those 
of the canary and other seed-eating birds ; for treat- 
ment of which see article on canary. Care must be 
taken not to leave them exposed to cold draughts 
or the dampness of the night air. With the above 
precautions, all these birds can be kept in the aviary 
for many years. 

So far as possible in a volume of this size, the 
description of finches will be found complete. 
These birds are all suitable for the aviary ; but the 
following birds can be placed with them by those 
who desire to make a more extended collection : 
canary, goldfinch, linnet, bulfinch, chaffinch, siskin, 
American goldfinch, indigo bird, nonpareil, song 
sparrow, Java sparrow, Australian paroquets, love 
birds, mountain finch, rose bunting, Virginia night- 
ingale, rose-breast grosbeak, Brazilian cardinal, 
sparrow, and many others. Of course the bird 
family, like all others, is liable to domestic troubles. 
Sometimes a bird of certain species will become 
troublesome, and destroy the quiet and happiness 
of the entire family. When such one is found, he 
should be taken out, and exchanged at a first-class 
bird-store for another of his kind : by this means 
the aviary will become a model of quietness and 
harmony. 



I08 BIRD-SEED. 



I 



Bird-seed. — Very few persons are aware ho' 
much a bird's health, and consequently its song, 
depends upon the selection of seed. There are 
as many qualities or grades of canary-seed as 
there are qualities or grades of flour. Is all flouf 
alike? If it is, then all seed is alike. The qual 
ity of canary-seed is usually based by dealers in seed 
upon the price per bushel, — it varying from $6.75 
to $8.00 at present writing (Jan, 1875). The very 
best seed is the 

Sicily Canary. — It is a very plump and heavy- 
feeling seed, and is extremely palatable to the bird. 
A sample of this seed — enough to last one bira 
two months — will be sent by mail, prepaid, on re- 
ceipt of twenty-five cents. 

The German Summer Rape-seed is excellent for 
birds, and should always be given them. It is their 
only food in Germany, where they are reared, and, 
being of a very cooling nature, will always keep the 
bird in excellent condition ; though, if fed on this 
exclusively, he will not sing as much as if his 
seed were mixed with canary, — the canary giving the 
bird life and animation. A package of clear 
RAPE, or rape and canary mixed, will be sent the 
same as the clear canary, and at same price. The 
next seed which is used, and often by persons en- 
tirely ignorant of its nature, is 

Hemp-seed. — This is a very rich, oily, sweet seed, 
and very much loved by birds of every species. 
When mixed with other seeds, the bird never fails 
to scatter all other around the room, searching 



BIRD-SEED. 109 

tor this dainty morsel, and, so long as he has one 
seed, will not taste either rape or canaiy. This, 
being the richest of all seed, should be fed very 
sparingly. If the bird is in health and song, nevei 
give hemp ; for it only fattens, and, if constantly fed, 
^ill ruin the song. Occasionally a bird seems deli 
cate, and is a very small eater : in such a case give 
a few hemp, — an^ only a few, unless the bird be 
a long breed, in which case give about a thimble- 
ful, not oftener than twice a week. Goldfinches and 
siskins are fed upon 

Maw-seed, sometimes called poppy. These two lit- 
tle climbing birds have very soft bills, — that is, the 
young birds, — and it is with difficulty that they 
crack rape and canary seed, unless it has been previ- 
ously soaked, until the birds are at least two years old. 
All birds are great lovers of maw-seed ; and it must 
be fed sparingly ; for, being a powerful opiate, 
they will feed upon it until they drop from the 
perch from its intoxicating effect. The few birds 
that require this seed, besides the preceding, are the 
bulfinch, canary, and occasionally some other seed 
eating bird ; for which see Treatment of Birds. The 
next seed used is called 

Paddy, — unhulled or rough rice. This seed is fed 
to most of the seed-eaHng birds of the rice-fields of 
the Southern States, and also those that come from 
China, Java, or in fact from any part of the world 
that rice is grown. All of the family of grosbeaks 
are particularly fond of it, as is also the Java spar- 
row and rice bird. Our native bobolirk is not 



I lO BIRD-SEED. 

averse to a bountiful supply ; but, with the feeding ; 
of this in any quantity, his vocal powers are ruined 
For the family of finches. 

Millet-seed is used exclusively. It is the size 
and color of mustard-seed, ver}^ sweet ; and birds 
thrive remarkably well upon it, though many of them 
will also eat readily of rape and canary seed. This 
seed, being nutritious, can be fed to any seed-eating 
bird, and without detriment to them. The only 
other food required is 

Cracked Corn and cracked wheat. This is fed 
principally to macaws, parrots, paroquets (of the 
larger species), cockadillos, cockatoos, lories, &c. 
The corn, being of a heating nature, should only be 
given in small quantities. 

By the present postal laws, seed can be sent 
safely through the mail ; and all orders intrusted 
to us will be filled with the very best quality, and 
the largest possible amount forwarded for the money 
sent. 

To those living remote from a bird-store, and de- 
siring one of "God's joyous warblers," it is with 
pleasure that we here state that they can be safely 
sent by express to any part of the United States oi 
Canadas. All any party need do is to give an ordei 
to an express company, accompanying the same 
with a five-dollar bill, — this is very important to the 
express company, — and for this sum he will procure 
you a first-class singing canary. I am aware that 
many people are reluctant to trust a bird to the 
supposed rough handling of an expressman. The 



i 



TRANSPORTING BIRDS. Ill 

expressman may handle a trunk roughly, and thro^ 
packages around in a careless manner, but nol 
the little innocent bird. 

Could you but see, as the author has so many, 
many times, on a cold, bleak winter's day, an ex- 
press-messenger, clad in an ordinary under coat, 
drive to the store door, and take from his wagon a 
package of birds closely wrapped in his overcoat^ re- 
marking as he placed the package within the door, 
"I could not bear, Mr. Holden, to see the little 
things suffer such a terrible day as this." Or had 
you been with the author one stormy night last 
winter, when coming eastward from New York 
by steamer, upon which was a large shipment of 
birds in charge of the Adams Express Company, you 
might have seen the messenger, on arriving at Fall 
River, carry the package with the utmost care inco 
the cars, and place it near the stove in that part ot 
the car usually occupied by himself. The comfort 
and safety of these helpless, creatures was to him of 
the utmost importance. Having some curiosity, I 
asked him why he was so particular about the package, 
he replied, without knowing to whom he was speak- 
ing, " Ah, sir, I love those little birds ! they can- 
not take care of themselves, and God knows my first 
duty is to them." A call at the office of the com 
pany revealed the fart, that the messenger was Mr. 
David Crowley, one of the three survivors of the 
fated 'Lexington," which was burned in 1S42. The 
large bird importing houses have shipped nearly 
half a million l?i?'ds ; and this immense number 



112 TAMING AND TRAINING. 

without any loss worthy of mention. If our ex 
perience is worth any thing, do not hesitate to 
order; for the express company will always pur- 
chase at the point nearest your residence, and get 
them to you with as little exposure as possible. 

Almost all fanciers take a delight in having theii 
birds so tame that they will not only take their food 
from the hand, but will readily fly to, and remain 
with, the person from whom they daily receive atten 
tion. When wild birds are first caught and placed 
in a cage, it is not well to begin at once upon their 
education. It requires some little time for them to 
become accustomed to their new mode of life : the 
change of food, together with a diminishing of their 
usual exercise, so changes the fluids that the bird is 
not in a healthy condition, and is therefore wholly 
unfit for mental training. 

There are some birds which seem thoroughly in- 
capable of learning the important fact, that their at- 
tendant is their friend. When it is discovered that 
such is the nature of the bird in hand, it is as well 
to give up all hopes of attaining favorable results. 
Patience will, however, accomplish much ; and it is 
best to give a long and careful trial before pronoun- 
cing final judgment. Young birds can be taught 
more easily than old ones. Yet with siskins, gold- 
finches, Java sparrows, and chaffinches almost any 
age will answer. One of the best ways to teach a 
bird to fly and return, or to go out pf doors perched 
upon the finger or shoulder, is first to tease it with a 
soft feather in its cage, leaving the door open. The 



TAMING AND TRAINING. II3 

bird at first will appear frightened, but, on finding 
that no harm is intended, will peck at the feather, 
vhich should be quickly withdrawn. The bird, soon 
thinking that it has mastered the feather, thereby 
gains confidence, and will peck at the finger : soon 
it will come out of its cage, and perch upon the 
hand. A few choice morsels should be laid down for 
it ; and in this way it will soon learn to eat from the 
hand itself. The bird should then be made ac- 
quainted with some call, which should invariably 
be used whenever the training is going on ; after a 
short time the bird can be placed upon the shoulder, 
and carried from one room to another, care being 
taken to close the windows and outside doors. In 
this way it will speedily become accustomed to being 
handled, and can be allowed to fly about the room, 
inviting it to return by the previously-arranged call 
or whistle. As soon as it attends to the call with- 
out appearing nervous or frightened, it can be taken 
into the open air, and gradually accustomed to being 
carried abroad without its offering to fly. 

Adult birds should not be carried into the open 
air in the spring or in pairing time ; for at this sea«:on 
of the year they show indications of resuming ^heir 
native wildaess. A siskin, goldfinch, or canary can 
easily be tamed by cutting away more or less of the 
inner web of the pinion-feathers, care being taken 
that the bird shall have sufficient power to fly from 
the hand without injury. The nostrils are then 
smeared with any essential oil, — bergamot is as good 
AS any, — which will render it partially insensible for a 



114 TAMING AND TRAINING. 



I 



time. It should then be placed upon a finger, and 
changed from one to another. It may fly a fe\^ 
times, but should be brought back, and kept upot 
the hand until the effects of the oil have wholl) 
passed away, when the bird, finding no harm is in 
tended, will sit quietly. A few crushed hemp seeds 
should be given for its good behavior, and the above 
repeated from day to day until a satisfactory result 
is obtained. Hunger will speedily teach a bird to 
take food from the hand. Place it in a small cage, — 
one that has a door large enough for the hand to pass 
through, — then remove all food. In a few hours tr}- 
putting a seed-dish into the cage with your hand : if 
the bird flutters wildly about, and refuses to accept 
your offering, remove your dish, and wait a few hours 
longer. You will not be compelled to remain long 
in suspense, for two or three trials will generally 
effect a good result. After food has been accepted 
from the dish, try your hand ; and as soon as you 
have convinced your pupil that only from you can 
food be procured, and to you, and you only, must he 
look for all his goodies, a friendship will be formed 
which he will not be first to break. Birds that are 
desired to be tame should be talked to and made 
of : they should be placed upon your writing-table, 
and every now and again a little notice taken of 
them. It is surprising how speedily these little 
fellows will learn the difference between neglect and 
attention. Some of the best birds which have been 
placed on exhibition have been those owned by 
tailors and shoemakers, who, owing to the nature 



TAMING AND TRAINING. 115 

of their business, could keep their feathered pupils 
constantly with them. 

Thus far I have spoken only of taming these 
" little dewdrops." They are capable of still greater 
things, and can, with little or no coercion, be taught 
to pel form many amusing tricks. The goldfinch 
and siskin may be taught to fire off small cannon, 
to imitate death, to draw up their food and water in a 
little bucket. The apparatus consists of two lines 
of broad, soft leather, in which there are four holes, 
through which their feet and wings are passed, and 
the ends are held together beneath the belly by a 
ring, to which is attached a delicate chain that sup- 
ports the buckets containing the food and drink. 
A bird thus equipped will draw up the chain by its 
beak, retaining the draw links by its feet, and thus 
succeeds in obtaining what he wishes. A cage can 
be made with a bay-window, in the floor of which 
have a hole : across this place a narrow bridge of 
wood, to which attach a small chain or piece of cord 
to hold the bucket, which should be about the size 
of a thimble. By drawing up the bucket filled with 
water, and letting the bird drink, then lowering it 
and pulling it part way up, he will soon acquire the 
habit of working at it. And, by gradually leaving 
a longer and longer length of chain between the 
bridge and the bucket, the bird will soon discover 
that he must pull the chain up into the cage, and 
hold it after it is there ; and he readily comprehends 
the necessity of holding the chain with his foot. As 
80on as this is done, his education is complete. 



I!6 TAMING AND TRAINING. 

Birds which are taught in this way never forget, and 
are always unhappy if out of their cage. Care 
should be taken to see that the working of the ap- 
paratus is not hard, and that it is always in order, 
otherwise a serious result might follow. A chain 
attached to a little wagon may be drawn into the 
cage and held in the same manner; and the bird 
may be taught to ring a bell by suspending it in a 
corner of the cage, and leaving him without seed 
until he is hungry, pulling the string attached to it 
and ringing it, and putting some favorite food into 
the glass. He will soon discover, that, whenever the 
bell rings, he gets his food, and will seize the string 
and ring it whenever he is hungry. 

A few words of advice to those about purchas- 
ing a bird. All lovers of birds desire one with 
beautiful plumage, as well as one gifted with exqui- 
site powers of song. There are times when it is 
impossible to secure both advantages in one bird, 
and, when this should be the case, always select the 
bird for his beauty of song, never for plumage. In 
visiting a bird-store to make a purchase, — perhaps 
your first one, — if the dealer has a large stock, and 
there is an incessant singing, it is almost an im- 
possibility for any person to select just such a bird 
as he desires. One that the purchaser may think is 
an elegant singer may, after you have him alone, 
prove to be only a " twittering " bird, and his song 
composed of only six or eight notes. Again, you 
may select a bird for a sick friend who desires 
something quieting, — something that will sing 



TAMING AND TRAINING. 117 

"words of comfort for hours of sorrow •" you may 
possibly select just such a bird ; but nine times outol 
ten you are liable to select a loud, shrill singer, whose 
notes seemingly pierce the brain. 

How are you to obtain that which you so mud: 
desire ? You have a friend whose bird just suiis 
you; but that particular song you cannot by any 
possibility select in a bird-store. You have but one 
resource left; and that is, your confidence in the 
dealer : tell him plainly what you wish ; and, if he 
has such a bird, you may depend upon his giving it 
to you ; for he knows, even better than the purchaser, 
just what is required ; and he will strive to please 
you, thereby not only gaining your esteem, but also 
the patronage of your friends, whom you will as- 
suredly send to "your bird-store." One source of 
great annoyance to a dealer is, after having select- 
ed such a bird, for the purchaser to turn to some 
other patron {always a perfect stranger) and ask his 
or her opinion of the bird, and then take the advice 
of a person whom they never saw before, and proba- 
bly will never see again, and select a bird which 
the dealer knows is not what is desired, and in a 
few days — a week at furthest — return to exchange 
it ; when, by taking the dealer's first selection, and 
holding no conversation with a stranger whose 
knowledge of a bird may have been as profound as 
the bird's knowledge of him or her, thereby causing 
a " little unpleasantness " between dealer and patron, 
which was as needless as it was unnecessary. 

Many persons have an idea that a bird with cleai 



Il8 TAMING AND TRAINING. 

yellow feathers is the best singer, while others main 
tain that those with dark-green feathers are the best, 
and yet others think that a mottled bird is the 
best singer ; and many times it is hard to convince 
people otherwise. Upon inquiry, we find these ideas 
usually based upon the fact, that a friend of theirs 
once had a bird such and such a color, and it was 
a very fine singer, and they have been repeatedly 
told, that that colored bird was the best singer. To 
those who labor under this delusion we will simply 
state, that there are birds of every color that are in- 
ferior singers, and also those of every color that are 
very superior singers. The fact is, a bird's feath- 
ers have no more to do with his song than a lady's 
dress has to do with her voice. If a lady cannot 
sing with a plain dress, I doubt very much whether 
a moire trimmed with real lace would give her that 
much-wished-for accomplishment. In selecting a 
cage for a bird, always look first to his comfort, 
never forgetting that he is our little caged prisoner, 
and our first duty is to make his prison-life happy. 
The canary and many other birds will live happily 
in a cage of any size or shape ; while there are 
many birds that must be confined in a flat-top cage \ 
others again that must be kept in a cage the top of 
which must be of wood. The bird-dealer is always 
the best judge of the kind of cage best adapted to 
a bird's requirements ; and, if you follow his advice, 
you cannot go amiss. The improvements made in 
cages for the comfort of its occupant during the 
past three years have been very many ; and, in mak- 



I 



I 



BIRD-CAGES. II9 

ing these improvements, style also has been consult- 
ed. We have the beautiful moresque, the Chinese 
pagoda, the Swiss cottage, the mansard, gothic, and 
in fact styles after every order of architecture, and 
many of them are very beautiful, and certainly 
pleasing to the eye. A bird's comfort, however, 
should be consulted a little, never forgetting that 
he is your caged prisoner ; and your first thought 
always must be to make his prison life happy. 
Very few who own a 

" Little dewdrop of celestial melody " 

give a moment's thought to the fact that many of the 
song-birds require vastly different cages. A canary 
will pour forth his chant in any cage in which 
you place him. True, he loves a large cage, and 
will fly from one end to the other for joy. He will 
even take a bath several times a day if the oppor- 
tunity is given him, and plume his feathers times 
without number. All this he will do, as well as eat, 
and sing occasionally. Should you keep such a 
bird for a pet, such a cage would answer every pur- 
pose: if you keep the bird for his song, then he 
must be kept in a small cage. 

Owners of feathered songsters must have ob- 
served that many of them constantly flutter then 
wings, and look up as if about to fly upwards ; others 
again look up, and turn their heads backwards, until 
you think they will fall backward, which they 
sometimes do. Did it ever occur to the owner of 
such a bird that he was not in a suitable cage ? foi 



120 TRAPPING BIRDS. 

such is the fact. To those who have not studied this 
branch of natural history, and buy for the first time a 
bird and cage, ahvays take the bird-dealer's advice as 
regards the cage. Your bird will then sing readily, 
remain quiet, and not fly as if afraid of his life, and 
ruin his plumage the first day that you possess him. 

TrappiN''". Birds. — Bird-dealers are constantly re% 
ceiving orders and calls for "bird-lime." This article 
is made from the inside bark of the holly, — a tree 
almost unknown in this country, though very plentiful 
in England. A substitute for this can be made by 
boiling linseed-oil away to about one-third the quan- 
tity you start with. It is a very dangerous operation, 
and should never be done in a house, its explosive 
qualities being fully equal to gunpowder. It will make 
a very strong bird-lime, and hold any small bird that 
lights upon a twig that has been smeared with it. 
Unless, however, the trapper is near at hand to remove 
the bird at once, he becomes besmeared all over his 
body and wings ; and it is almost impossible to remove 
it until the bird moults, thereby, for the time being, 
ruining the sale of it. A far better way is with a trap- 
cage, and a bird for a caller ; and, if you can obtain 
a blind bird, he will sit quietly, and call all day long, 
and many, very many more birds can be taken than 
if the bird had his sight. 

Wrapping Birds. — There are very many people 
who think that a bird will " smother " if covered up 
closely. Such, however, is not the case. A dealer 
knows better than any one else possibly can. And, 
if the purchaser would only remain quiet until the 



WRAPPING BIRDS. 121 

package was ready to deliver, he or she would always 
discover that the last thing done was to make a few 
small holes in the top to let out the hot air, but by 
no means let in cold ; if so, a bird would assuredly 
catch cold. And lastly, I will say to all who now own 
birds, or ever expect to, that all they require is suit- 
able seed, as you have been informed in the body of 
this work, clean water for drinking and bathing daily, 
gravel-paper or sand on the bottom of the cage, a 
little green stuff or sweet apple once in three or four 
weeks, — not oftener, — and nothing else. 

Tobacco Smoke is not, as many suppose, injurious 
to birds. A little occasionally is beneficial. 

To CLEAN A BRASS, SILVER, OR GOLD PLATED CaGE, 

always wash with a sponge or piece of old towel, using 
clear cold water, and wipe dry. The surface of these 
cages being varnished, if hot water is used, they will 
have the appearance of being spattered with milk, 
which can never be removed. If they are scoured 
the same as brass-ware ordinarily is, the varnish will 
be removed, and the cage commence to corrode, and 
require polishing daily. 

Silver Plated and Bk^ss Cages can be refinished 
in two days, and made in appearance equal to new. 
Cages are refinished in silver for ^2.00; in brass, 
^i.oo. 



SEEDS, FOODS, AND MEDICINES. 



The health and song of birds depend on the quality of seeds and foods: 
I sell only the best. 

PER QT. 

Seed, canary, Sicily, best quality, clean $0.20 

" rape, German summer, best quality, clean 20 

" millet, domestic, " " " 20 

" " French, " " " 40 

" maw, " " " 25 

" padda, or urihullcd rice, " " " 20 

" hemp, Russian, " " " 20 

" canary, rape, equal parts, mixed for Canaries 20 

" cracked corn 20 

" hemp, cracked corn, padda, and sunflower, mixed for Parrots. . .20 

Ants' €ggs 1. 00 

Maw-meal 25 

Packages of seeds, ants' eggs, or maw-meil, will be sent by mail, on receipt 
of 25 cents or 50 cents; largest packages, $1 00. Fresh seeds of the best 
quality can thus always be promptly had. 

Cuttle-bone, large each, $0.05; by mail, $0.08 

Meal-worms per dozen .o5; per hundred, .40; by mail, .50 

Food, prepared, either moist, ready for use, or dry, requiring grated 

raw carrot per qt., .35 

Food, moist in bottles, or dry in boxes 40 

" moist or dry, packages by mail 25, .50, or i. 00 

Red food, for coloring Canaries red .... per box, $1.00; by mail, 1.12 

Gravel pint box, .05; quart box, .10 

Gunning's Tonic, a liquid not mailable, to tone up weak birds . . . .25 

Holden's Song Restorer, a nourishing food by mail, .25 

Bird Treat, or Appetizer per package, by mail, .15 

Lime, to use in catching birds per box, .25; by mail, .35 

Holden's Bird-Cures, carefully prepared after a long experience in the care 
of all kinds of birds, are recommended for birds which are out of song, 
either because they are sick, or are infested with vermin. We put these 
powders up in suitable form for mailing, and send them to any address, with 
full directions for use with each package, postage prepaid, for .25 per pack- 
age; or five packages of Cures or Insect Powder, $1.00. The whole seven 
are sent on receipt of $1.40. 

Holden's Bird-Cure No. i . . . . For Diarrho2a. 

" " No. 2 . . . . " Constipation 

" " No. 3 . . . . " DebiUty. 

" " No. 4 . . . . " Cold or Moulting. 

" " No. 5 . . . . " Asthma, or Loss of Voice. 

" " No. 6 .... " Sore Feet. 

" " No. 7. German Powder, for Insects. 

122 



G. H. HOLDEN, BIRD IMPORTER. 

240 Sixth Avenue (near 15th St.), NEW YORK, N. Y 
9 Bowdoin Square . . BOSTON, MASS. 

100 Lake St. (near Dearborn St.), CHICAGO, ILL. 



HOLDEK'S LIST OF BIRDS, CAGES, ETC. 

My birds can be bought from me only in the above stores. 
No pedlers or agents are employed; any one representing himself as 
such is a swindler. 

Birds and cages are sent everywhere safely by express. 
Money can be sent by bank-draft, by money orders which can be had of the 
Express companies, by Post-Office order, or in a registered letter. Postage- 
stamps are accepted for any article sold for $1 00 or less. 

Guaranties. — Birds, cages, seeds, etc., are guaranteed best quality. 
Special orders are taken for all kinds of rare birds. 
German male Canaries, guaranteed to sing to suit, each $2.50 to $3.00 

St. Andreasberg Canaries, trained singers, each $5.00 to $6.00 

Campanini Canaries, fine grade singers, __ each $8.00, $12.00, $15.00 

" " best, imported to order eacl $25.00, $40,00, $50.00 

Canary-bird, English, red, singer, each $8.00, $10.00 to $12.00 

Females, red each $4 00 to $5.00 

Canary-birds, Gold or Silver Spangled Lizard, singers, each $10.00 to $15.00 
Females, same kind, each $5.00 to $8 00 

Canary-birds from Norwich, Eng., large, deep golden, high green, and 

fancy colors, each $4.00, 6.00, and $8.00 

Females from Norwich, each $2.00, $3.00 to $5.00 

Canary-birds, Manchester Coppy, the largest breed of canary singers, 

each $10.00 to $15.00 

Females, same kind, each $8.00 to $io.oo 

Canary-birds, Scotch Fancy, singers, each $10.00 to $15.00 

Females, same kind, each $8.00 to $10.00 

Cinnamon Canary, in perfect color and song each $5.00, $6.00, and $8.00 

Females, same kind, each $2.00, $3.00 to $4.00 

Canary-birds, olive-green or golden-brown, singers, each $5.00 

All female Canaries of the ordinary colors, each $1.00 

High-colored females, deep gold or olive-green, each $3.00 to $5.00 

Canary that pipes a tune, each $50.00 to $150.00 

The above prices for males and females apply to the German birds and 

the English birds, all imported, which are the finest songsters. 

Long-Breed Canaries, sometimes called Belgium or Antwerp birds, 

males or females each $5.00, $8.00 to $10.00 

The above prices rei'er to imported stock. 
Half Long-Breed Canaries, domestic, male or female, each $4.00 to $3. 00 
Special orders are taken for finest Campinini canary singers, extra l^rge 
Manchesters or other prize canaries, and extra piping bullfinches. 

123 



124 G. H. HOLDEN S PRICE-LIST. 

Bullfinch, unlearned, each $3.00 to $5.00 

" that pipes one tune, each $15.00 to $25.00 

" " " two tunes, each $40.00, $50.00, $60.00 

" phrasing, echo songs, etc. each $75.00, $100.00, $150.00 

Black-Cap Warbler, each $5.00 to $6.00 

Blackbird, each $8.00 

" that pipes one tune, each $25.00 to $40.00 

Brazilian Cardinal, each $5.00 

" " a very choice songster, $8.00 

Goldfinch, each $2.00 

" a very choice songster, $3-5o to $5.00 

Goldfinch Mule, each $5.00 to $8.00 

" " a very choice songster, $10.00 

" " " " " and high colored or clear white, 

each $10.00 to $20.00 

Chaffinch, each $2.00 to $3.00 

Japanese Robin or Pekin Nightingale, each $6.00 to $7.00 

Java Sparrows, each $1.50 to $2.00 

" " white, each $5.00 

Sky-Larks, each $4.00 to $5.00 

" choice songsters, each $6.00 to $10.00 

Wood-Lark, each $5.00 to $8.00 

" choice songsters, each $15.00 

Linnet, Gray or Brown, each, $2.00 

" " " choice songsters, each $3.50 to $5.00 

" Green, each $3.00 

" " choice songsters, each $5.00 

Nightingale, English or German, each $10.00 to $20.00 

" choice songsters, each $25.00 

Siskin, each $1.50 to $2.00 

Starling, each $5.00 to $8.00 

" that pipes one tune, each $20.00 to $40.00 

Talking Minor, or Musical Grakle, young, each $20.00 to $25.00 

" " well trained, each $50.00, $100.00, $150.00 

Troopial, each $8.00 to $10.00 

Thrush, each $8.00 

" choice songsters, each $10.00 to $15.00 

All the above are imported birds; and the highest prices quoted should 

purchase the choicest bird of its kind in any part of America. 

The following birds are suitable for the aviary: Avadavat or Amandava, 
Bishop Finch, Banded Finch, Cordon Bluefinch, Cut-throat Finch, Celestial 
Finch, Cuba Finch, Diamond Sparrow, Fire-finch, Fascinated Finch, Indian 
Sparrow, Indian Silver-bill, Clear White Japanese Nuns, Brown and White or 
Cinnamon and White Japanese Nuns, the Little Doctor, Magpie Finch, 
Napoleon Finch, Negro, Nun (both black and white capped) Quaker Finch, 
Rockhampton Finch, Strawberry Finch, Spotted-sided Finch, Saffron 
Finch, St. Helena Waxbill, Spice Birds. 

I'he preceding birds range in price from $2.00 to $5.00 each, and are im- 
ported from Europe, Asia, and Africa. 



G. H. HOLDEN's price-list. 125 

Paroquets, Australian, pair, $6.00 to $8.00 

" Red Face Love Bird, pair, $7.00 to $8.00 

" other kinds, each $2.00 to $5.00 

Parrots, African, Gray fyoung birds), each $12.00 to $20.00 

" '« " talkers, each $25.00 to $75.00 

'• " " extra fine talkers, each $100.00, $200.00, and $300.00 

" Double-yellow Head, young, each $15.00 to $20.00 

" " " *' talkers, each $40.00, $50.00, $100.00, $200.00 

" Half-yellow Head are about 25 per cent less. 

" Blue Front, each $12.00, $15.00, $20.00, $35.00 

" Maracaibo, each $7.00, $8.00, and $10.00 

" Cuban, •ach $4.00, $5.00, and $6.00 

" Dwarf, tame and learn to talk, each $3.00 to $10.00 

Bobolink (wild), t-ach $1.00 to $1.50 

" in song, each $2.00 to $3.00 

Cardinal Bird or Virginia Nightingale, each $3.00 to $5.00 

Scarlet Tanager, each $3.00 to $5.00 

Grosbeak, rose-breasted (wild), each $3.50 to $5.00 

" in song, each $5.00 to $8.00 

Indigo Bird (wild), each $1.50 

" " in song, each $3.00 to $5.00 

Linnets, red (wild), each $1.00 

" in song, each $2.00 to $3.00 

Mocking-Birds (nestling), each $3.50 to $5.00 

" " one-year-old, in song, each $10.00 to $15.00 

" " two-year-old choice songsters, each $20.00 to $50.00 

Nonpareils, each $3.00 to $5.00 

Robins (American), each $3.00 to $5.00 

" Golden, each $3.00 to $5.00 

" Redbreast, European, each $3.50 to $5.00 

Red Bird or Virginia Nightingale, each $3.50 to $5.00 

Yellow Birds (American Goldfinch), each 75 cts. to $2 00 

Enamelled Cages, with patent doors and fastenings, each 50 cts. to $3 00 

Mocking-Bird Food (box or bottle), 40 cts.; by mail, 50 cts. 

Ants' Eggs, half pint, by mail, 25 cts. 

Gravel-paper, 12 sheets, 25 cts.; by mail, 37 cts. 

Lovers of birds, living remote from our large cities, and desirous of ob- 
taining any article pertaining to birds and cages, can procure the best quality 
from me at the lowest rates. 



I2t) 



G. H. holdp:n s price-list. 



All cage measurements are from wire to wire. 

The following list of prices refers to chart at end of book: — 



No. 







Price 


each. 


diameter of body 


, 6 in. 




$o.7t; 


7 " 
7-1 " 




1. 00 


« 




1 .25 


<< ,< 


8\ " 




i.!;o 


u << 


"I 

9 " 
7l " 
83 " 
9 " 
9 " 
134 li'S 
12I " 




1 .^u 


<< .< 




i.i;o 


.< 




1.75 


« 




2.00 


« 




3-75 


b. dy, 74 X io.\ x 
" 63 X gl X 


1 


2.";o 


very strong . 


1. 00 


" 7 X lo X 


13 " 


" . . 


1.50 


" 73 X loh X 


13', " 


" " . . 


2.00 


" 63 X 9lx 


12 " 


with drawer 


1.25 


" 7 X ID X 


12I " 


" " 


1-75 


7:1 X 93 X 


13^ " 




3.00 


73 X 93 X 


13 " 


with drawer 


3-25 


73 X 93 X 


15 " 


" " 


3-25 


" R V TO V 


14.1 " 
14 " 




-J 0- 


" 8 X 10 X 


with drawer . 


J'-D 
3-50 


" 9 X 104 X 


Hh " 




350 


" 9 X io3 X 


i4i " 


with drawer . 


3-75 


" 74 X 95 X 


15 " 


" " 


3-50 


S^xii^x 


16 " 


" " 


3-75 


" 9 X 103 X 


i4 " 


" " 


350 


93 X 12 X 


15 " 




4.00 


" 9^ X 12 X 


16 " 




4-25 


'•' 9 X iiix 


16 " 


with drawer 


4-25 


" 9 X II^X 


16 " 


" " 


4-50 


" 9 X 12 X 


.54 " 


" " 


4.50 


" lo.T X 13 X 


18J " 


for breeding 


5.00 


7 X 13.V X 


22 " 


wheel for canary 


6.00 


" iiS X 14^ X 


17 " 


for Bullfinch . . 


500 


" II XI33X 


16^ " 


for Paroquets . . 


6.00 


" 14.^ X 20 X 


21 " 


for Mocking-Bird 


9.00 


" 14 J X 23I X 


23 " 


for Mocking-Bird 


10.00 


" i3.\ X i6i X 


xSi " 


for Cardinal . . 


8.50 


" 14.^ X 20 X 


21^ " 


for Mocking-Bird 


12.00 


" M^ X 23I X 


^3h " 


for Mocking-Bird 


13.00 


" 144 X 31 X 


24 " 


for Mocking-Bird 


16.00 



/B " 

fA " 

JB " 

jC •' 

Brass Banded Cage, strong, for Parrot. Tinned wires, heavy 
zinc base ; the best low-price cage made ; diameter 12 inches, 
$2.50; 13 in., $3.00; 14 in., $4.00; 155 in 5.00 



t40. 



B " 
C " 

[d " 



G. H. HOLDEN's price list. 127 



No. 129. Brass base, body, iron, 14 x 17 x 24 in. high, for Parrot . . $7.00 

*' 130. " Cage, 15 inches diameter, for Parrot 8.50 

" 131. " " body, 15 X 18 X 254 in. high, for Parrot . . . 9.50 
„ ^ A Brass Cage, body, 15 x 18 x 21 high, for Parrot . . . 10.00 

I B " " " 15 X 22 X 225 " << " ... 11.00 

" 133. " " " 15 X 22 X 264 " '' Cockatoo . . 15.00 

" 134. Parrot Stand, 3 feet 6 in. high, iron foot, $6.00; brass foot . 7.00 
" 135. " " 3 feet 10 inches high, $9.50: with swing . . 11.00 

" 136. Cover, fits stands 134, 135, all brass, with door 6.00 

Dwarf Parrot Stand, brass, $5.00; cover, $2.00; complete . 7.00 

" 137. Brass Cage, body, 6^ x g\ x 12I high, for 4 small birds . . 2.25 

" 138. " " " 9 X II X 13 " " 6 " " . . 4.00 

" 139. " " " 10 X 13 X 175 " " 10 " " . . 8.00 

(A Brass Cage, body, 13 x 16 x 19 high, for 16 small birds 10.00 

B " " " 12 X 22 x 215 " " 20 " " 15.00 

" 145 X 235 X 27 " " 25 " " 18.00 

" 20 X 29 X 32 " " 40 " " 35-00 

Revolving wheel inside B, C, or D, extra, $3.50; dome, extra, $4 00 

No. 141. Iron Cage for Chip, for Red, for Gray, Squirrel, $3.00, $4.00, $5.00 

<, ( A Brass Cage, body, 15 x 18 x 21 high, for Squirrel . . 10.00 

f B " " " 15 x 22 X 21 " 2 wheels .... 12.00 

" 143. Tinned wire, wood frame, sizes 8 X 10 to 13 X 24 . $1.40103.00 

/A Samematerial,forbreeding, body 9x16 in., $1.50; 10x18 in. 2 oo* 

" 144. <B " " " " " II X 20" two doors, best size 2.50 

( C " " " " " 12 X 22 " " " two nests, 3.00 

/ A " " " Mocking-Bird, body 11 x 21 in. . . 3.00 

" 145. ] B " " " " " 12 x 22 in. . . 3.50 

' C " " " " extra quality . $4.00 and 5.00 

These Mocking-Bird Cages for Cardinals, Mocking-Birds, and Thrushes. 

have large cups on revolving holders. Cups are filled from the outside. 

No. 146. Trap, 7 x 7, $0.80; 8x8, $1.35; 9 x 9, $1.60; 9 x 9, 2 traps, $2.00 

" 147. Lark Cage, revolving half circle for sod, wood frame . . . 3.00 

" 148. Mouse Cage, 5 sizes; $0.75, $1.00, $1.50, $2.00 .... 3.00 

" 149. Spring perch for Canary, a bird's delight, by mail 25 

" 150. Brass spring for hanging-cage, by mail 15 

" 151. Brass chain, 5 yard, 10 cents; i yard, by mail 20 

' 152. Brass hook, for hanging cage, by mail 05 

" 153. Brass Seed Fenders, to fit any canary cage, each 50 cents; 
wider and heavier, to fit Cardinal, Mocking, or Parrot 

cages, $1.00 and $1.50; to fit Parrot Stand 2.00 

I send I quart any seed, i bath tub, 12 sheets gravel paper, i hook to pro. 
ject cage, i yard brass chain, and i brass spring, 6 articles, for $1.00. 

Brass cages are guaranteed best quality; any canary cage silver-plated for 
$2.00; other cages, according to size, plated for $3.00 to $5.00. 

For any article mentioned in this book, address George H. Holden, Bird 
Importer, Chicago, 111., Boston, Mass., or New York, N. Y. 



THE 3SrE"W EIDITI03Sr. 

HOLDEN'S 

Canaries and Cage Birds, 

BY GEORGE H. HOLDEN. 

A practical book for bird owners. The latest and best facts regarding 

the food, care, breeding and diseases of cage birds. 375 

large pages, 61^x11 inches. 12 elegant full-page 

colored plates. 150 engravings of birds 

and cages. Handsomely bound 

in cloth. 

PKICE, «2.00. 

Sent Prepaid on Receipt of Price. 

••It will doubtless be in the liands of everybody who has a genuine fundncfai 
for these pets." — Boston iSatw-Oay Evening Gazette. 

" The book is very creditalile to the author, who is well known to nearl] 
every person interested in raising birds in New England." — Boston Herald. 

'• Out of the treasures of a large experience, Mr. Holden has prepared a bool 
which will prove helpful to all who keep and rear birds."— iVeio York Tribune. 

Address, 

Gi:ORG£ H. HOLDEN, Bird Importer, 

240 Sixth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 

(Between 15th and 16th Streets.) 

9 Bowdoin Square, Boston, Mass. 
100 Lake Street, Chicago, 111. 

(Near Dearborn Street.) 



H. ^. DA^CKE. 



DEALER IN 



SEBDSand bulbs 

410 West Fourteenth Street - NEW YORK. 

Only First Quality Bird Seed and Bird Food. 
German Song Restorer, ) ^. . „. . 
Dr. Brehm's Bird Tonic, \ ^"^ «"=" ^"^^- 
Flower, Garden, Field and Grass Seeds. 

CATALOGUES FREE UPON APPLICATION. 



CUT 



PRICKS AT 




Holden's Bird Stores, 

40 Sixth Atc, New York, N. Y. 9 Bowdoin Sq., Boston, Mass. 
100 lake Street (near Dearborn Street), Chicago, 111. 



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